C

entral Sulawesi administration has said that it needs around Rp 500 billion (US$347,027) to rehabilitate 484 irrigation networks in the province.

“With the current condition, we need Rp 500 billion to fix all of them [irrigation networks],” the province’s water resource and copyright agency head Saliman Simanjuntak told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The 484 irrigation networks are spread across 161,636 hectares. However, they currently only provide irrigation for 109,508 ha.

“Only 60 percent of them are in good condition and the other 40 percent need serious maintenance to support agricultural production in the region,” he said.

“This year alone, we requested the central government to allocate Rp 260 billion for 12 irrigation areas,” Saliman added.

Of the Rp 260 billion requested, however, only Rp 10 billion was allocated by the government for improving three irrigation networks in South Lore in Poso regency, Air Terang district in Buol regency and in Tolisu district in Banggai regency.

The 484 networks comprise 445 irrigation areas under the jurisdiction of the regency administrations across the province, while three fall within the province’s and six under the government’s responsibility.