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Sightseers flock to Jatigede dam
River fighters: A group of activists erect a banner in front of a drain hole connecting the Jatigede Dam with Cimanuk River in Sumedang regency, West Java, on Saturday, in protest of the governmentâs plan to fill the newly built reservoir
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River fighters: A group of activists erect a banner in front of a drain hole connecting the Jatigede Dam with Cimanuk River in Sumedang regency, West Java, on Saturday, in protest of the governmentâs plan to fill the newly built reservoir. Bowing to public pressure, the government has decided to delay the reservoir filling, which was earlier scheduled to begin on Aug. 1.(JP/Arya Dipa) (JP/Arya Dipa)
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span class="inline inline-center">River fighters: A group of activists erect a banner in front of a drain hole connecting the Jatigede Dam with Cimanuk River in Sumedang regency, West Java, on Saturday, in protest of the government's plan to fill the newly built reservoir. Bowing to public pressure, the government has decided to delay the reservoir filling, which was earlier scheduled to begin on Aug. 1.(JP/Arya Dipa)
Despite the government's recent decision to delay the inundation of the Jatigede reservoir in Sumedang Regency, West Java, people from regions across the province have flocked to the dam area over the past several days to examine and learn about the country's second-largest reservoir project.
The dam built on the 4,891-hectare site will have the capacity to retain 979 million cubic meters of water to irrigate around 90,000 hectares of rice fields in Sumedang, Indramayu and Cirebon regencies.
Only Jatiluhur reservoir in Purwakarta, West Java, has a larger capacity than that of Jatigede.
The government had previously planned to begin the filling process on Saturday, but recently decided to delay it, citing incomplete compensation payments to local residents affected by the project.
'We need to complete the [compensation] payments first. The Aug. 1 target was previously set so that we could [complete the project] immediately. However, we still have to deal with many administrative glitches in the field so that [the reservoir filling] must be delayed,' Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said on Friday, as quoted by bisnis.com.
Ministry data shows that the government has compensated 4,061 out of the eligible 10,924 families.
On Saturday afternoon, however, hundreds of visitors arrived at the dam site in private cars, pickups and motorcycles. Despite the scorching heat, the visitors took pictures, spread mats and enjoyed meals together with friends and family members at the site.
Some expressed disappointment that they had failed to see President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, who had previously been scheduled to launch the reservoir filling.
'What else can we do?' said 50-year-old Nata of Sumedang, who brought his relatives in a pickup.
Another visitor, 20-year-old Alfonsus Liguori, a civil engineering student of the Bandung-based Parahyangan Catholic University, said he had visited the dam to learn about its gigantic structure. 'I learn about dam structures mostly in theory. Now I can see it for real,' said Alfonsus, who came along with his parents.
Separately, Cipaku subdistrict chief Didin Nurhadi said that the majority of the subdistrict's 1,200 families had refused to fill in the administrative forms for the payment of the compensation money from the government. Cipaku is one of eight subdistricts in the regency that will be submerged if the Jatigede reservoir is completely filled.
'First we must make sure that there is a suitable place for relocating the residents, then we will make a deal,' Didin said.
