Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry has opened a tender for 13 construction packages of 9 dam projects until the second week of December 2019.

The construction value of the 13 tendered packages reaches Rp8.77 trillion. Jragung Dam project in Central Java is the project with the most value, which is Rp2.72 trillion.

Dam Centre Head of the PUPR Ministry Ni Made Sumiarsih said that his agency had signed the contract for Leuwikeris Dam Package 4 construction in West Java. “Contract for Leuwikeris Package 4 has been signed. [Contract for] Gongseng [Dam] is planned to be signed this year,” he said recently.

PT Waskita Karya (Persero) won Leuwikeris Dam Package 4 with an offer of Rp771.01 billion. The amount is lower than the self estimated price of Rp804.36 billion.

Based on the data from Electronic Procurement Services (LPSE), there are three projects that announced their winner on 13 December 2019. The projects are Bendo Dam, Gongseng Dam, and Tukul Dam. The data from LPSE that was accessed on Monday (16/12) shows that the contracts for the three dams has not been made.

According to the data from LPSE, PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk won Bendo Dam project tender with an offer of Rp317.44 billion. Meanwhile, PT Brantas Abipraya (Persero) won Tukul Dam tender with an offer of Rp268.69 billion.

A winner has not been determined for Gongseng Dam project. Waskita Karya and PT Hutama Karya (Persero) receive the highest technical rating in the project tender.

Besides the four dams, there are five other dam projects that will be tendered. The five projects are Tiu Suntuk Dam, Ladongi Dam Package 2, Jragung Dam, Ameroro Dam, and Budong-Budong Dam.

Out of the five projects, two dams, namely Ameroro Dam and Budong-Budong Dam, are still in prequalification, the winner for those projects will be announced in February 2020.

Overall, the total capacity of the nine projects that have been tendered reaches 431.05 million cubic metres. The capacity can be utilised to irrigate agricultural lands that reach 49,006 hectares. The size is three quarters of Jakarta that reaches 661.5 square metres.

Irrigation program

Meanwhile, the PUPR Ministry will continue a public infrastructure construction, which is the fast-tracking of irrigation enhancement (P3TGAI). The program is planned to be implemented at 6,000 locations next year by using Rp1.35 trillion from the state budget.

Water Resources Director General of the PUPR Ministry Hari Suprayogi said that the P3TGAI was a labour-intensive program that would be continued as farmers were directly involved with reparation and development of irrigation channels.

“P3TGAI is a labour-intensive program that is implemented by farmers themselves. Last year, it was implemented at 9,000 locations, and now it is planned to be implemented at 6,000 locations throughout Indonesia,” he said in Banten some time ago.

He continued that suggestions would be considered in determining the locations for the P3TGAI. However, Hari made sure regions included in the on-farm program would be prioritised.

Professor at Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) Dwi Andreas Santosa said that p3TGAI could support food security and farmer empowerment. Irrigation is an important factor in agriculture, while most irrigation channels need to be repaired and developed.

“In terms of importance, it is very important, as irrigation in Indonesia is 50% broken and efficiency of irrigation water utilisation is only 10%, which is in line with a study that has been conducted. If we increase [the efficiency] to be 15%, it would be great,” he said to Bisnis.

Dwi assessed that the government had their own considerations in determining the locations for the P3GAI program. However, he suggested that the government should consider four factors in an agriculture area, namely its agro-climate, its supporting infrastructures such as road access, its technology for seed cultivation, as well as its social economy.

“If one of those four factors is lacking, do not force the program to be implemented at the location,” he added.