The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) is currently constructing the Budong-Budong Dam in Central Mamuju regency, the first dam in West Sulawesi province built under the national strategic project (PSN) scheme.
Public Works and Housing Minister, Basuki Hadimuljono, said the dam’s construction, which is specified in Presidential Regulation No. 109/2020, would be accompanied by the development of an irrigation network.
“Thus, the dam, built at great cost, can be beneficial because its water is ensured to flow to the fields of the farmers,” Basuki said as quoted Antara news agency on Monday, February 26, 2024.
The Budong-Budong Dam is being built by the River Basin Center (BWS) 3rd Sulawesi Region, Directorate General of Water Resources at the PUPR Ministry, as part of the development and improvement of an irrigation area covering 3,577 hectares.
The dam will have a storage capacity of 65.18 million cubic meters. Dedi Yudha Lesmana, Head of BWS 3rd Sulawesi Region at the PUPR Ministry of PUPR, said the contract for the Budong-Budong Dam construction was approved on December 8, 2020, but construction activities for the dam commenced in September 2023.
“The construction of the first dam in West Sulawesi is still in the completion phase with a physical progress of 27 percent,” said Dedi.
The construction of the dam is carried out by the contractor PT Abipraya-Bumi Karsa, a consortium, with PT Indra Karya – PT Tuah Agung Anugrah – PT Ciriajasa E.C, also a consortium, supervising the project. The project value for the dam amounts to IDR 1.02 trillion (US$65.2 million)
The Budong-Budong Dam has the potential to provide raw water at a rate of 410 liters per second. The dam is expected to be beneficial as Central Mamuju Regency is set to undertake various development activities, both in wetland agriculture and industrial sectors, all requiring raw water from the dam.
In addition to irrigation and water supply, the construction of this dam is also crucial as a flood control measure for disaster-prone areas such as the Budong-Budong, Topoyo, and Karossa districts.
The dam can reduce water flow from 341.59 cubic meters per second to 106.76 cubic meters per second, reducing the risk of flooding.
The Central Mamuju regency is traversed by seven rivers, namely Budong-Budong, Lumu, Karama, Karossa, Benggaulu, Kamansi, and Panggajoang, flowing from the eastern hilly areas towards the western coastal regions and emptying into the waters of the Makassar Strait.
The Budong-Budong Dam will be built by damming the Salulebbo River, which is a tributary of the Budong-Budong River. The regency has a land area of 306,527 km2, dominated by about 38 percent of dry land and approximately 24 percent of secondary dry land.
It consists of five sub-districts: Tobadak, Pangale, Budong-Budong, Topoyo, and Karossa, with leading commodities such as rice and food crops, as well as plantations of oil palm, cocoa, coconut, citrus, coffee, medicinal plants, and patchouli.
