Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Minister Basuki Hadimuljono made sure that Sepaku Semoi Dam, located in Tengin Baru Village, Sepaku District, Penajam Paser Utara Regency, would commence construction in 2020. The dam will provide raw water to the new capital city in East Kalimantan.

“The dam, which has a capacity of around 11 million cubic metres (m³), has been planned for a long time. Previously, it was planned to provide raw water to Balikpapan at a rate of 2,000 litres per second. With the plan for a new capital city in East Kalimantan, this dam is forecasted to provide raw water for Sepaku at a rate of 500 litres per second,” Minister Basuki said in his official statement last week.

The PUPR Ministry is currently preparing the basic design of the dam, and the dam will be tendered using the ‘design and build’ method so that construction will be quicker. According to him, 300 hectares (ha) of land is required to build the dam. The progress is currently in the land appraisal stage.

“We will tender Sepaku Semoi Dam in early 2020. It will take around 1 or 2 months to determine the winner which will receive the construction contract. The dam construction is expected to cost around Rp700 billion” Basuki said.

Besides Sepaku Semoi Dam, PUPR Ministry has also planned the construction of Batu Lepek Dam in Kutai Kartanegara Regency to support the capital city development. The dam is planned to have a significantly large capacity, which is 14,300 litres per second, to support the capital city. The progress is currently in the detail designing preparation.

“Besides that, the capital city will also be supported by the construction of small-capacity dams, such as Beruas Dam and Safiak Dam in Kutai Kartanegara,” Minister Basuki revealed.

Kalimantan 3 River Basin Organisation (BWS) Head Anang Muchlis said that there were six raw water sources in East Kalimantan, namely Manggar Dam in Balikpapan (14.2 million m³), Teritip Dam in Balikpapan (2.43 million m³), Aji Raden Reservoir in Balikpapan (0.49 million m³), Samboja Dam in Kutai Kartanegara (5.09 million m³), Mahakam River Intake (0.02 million m³), Lempake Dam in Samarinda (0.67 million m³).