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ewly appointed Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said that his ministry would build at least five irrigation dams a year to support the government's food security program.

During his first day in office on Monday, Basuki, formerly a Public Works Ministry director general of spatial planning, said he was tasked with cooperating with the Agriculture Ministry to realize the program.

The dam construction would support the Nawa Cita and Trisakti programs initiated by President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, he said in reference to the Sanskrit term for Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's nine programs (Nawa Cita) and their political philosophy that envisions political sovereignty, economic independence and national character (Trisakti).

Basuki said that the ministry's directorate general for water resources had previously flagged 49 locations as potential new dam sites across the archipelago, five of which are expected to begin construction next year.

The prolonged drought has severely hurt the country's agricultural sector, especially rice farming activities, as existing irrigation systems are no longer able to provide enough water. The construction of the irrigation dams is expected to solve the water-shortage problem during the dry season.

Basuki also said that the ministry would prioritize the issuance of a Presidential decree detailing the plan to relocate some 5,000 families still living in the area of the long-stalled Jatigede Dam project.

The Jatigede Dam, which was initiated by former president Sukarno, was initially expected to be completed this year, as the previous government had included the dam on a list of priority projects set to be completed or started before October.

'We expect to start filling the dam by early next year; therefore, the presidential decree will be issued before the year ends,' he said.

Another challenging task awaiting the new minister is uniting the newly formed ministry, which is an amalgamation of the former Public Works and Public Housing Ministry.

Basuki said administrative processes regarding the merger would be completed by early next year.

'We have two months to complete the merging process. In January it will be finished,' he said, citing that the merger of two ministries would be processed through the administrative reforms minister and the state secretary.

Basuki, who was born in Surakarta in 1954, completed both Master's and doctorate degrees in civil engineering at Colorado State University in the US. He is currently the vice president of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).