VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo on his working visit to the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on, Monday (20/5), inaugurated the Rotiklot Dam located in Fatuketi Village, Kakuluk Mesak District, Belu Regency. The Rotiklot Dam is one of 49 new dams built by the government in the 2015-2019 period.

In his remarks, the President reiterated that water is the key to achieving prosperity and prosperity in NTT. Therefore, if only one dam is built in another province, the government will build seven dams in NTT.

The seven dams are Raknamo, Rotiklot, Napun Gete, Temef, Manikin, Mbay, and Welekis.

"What Raknamo has done. Now Rotiklot the water has gone up like this, very good water. Then there will be another Gete. There are others, there are seven of them. That was also the Governor, the Deputy Governor still wanted to ask for more. Meet the regent, he added, now all reservoirs and dams. Because the formula is there, the method must indeed start from water, "said the President.

After the water is available, the President said, the community can plant a variety of commodities, be it rice, corn, shallots, papaya, bananas, watermelons or melons in the dry season. With the availability of water, he continued, farmers can harvest more than once a year.

"Only the next step, if the water is there, we think what we will plant. "Step by step, indeed, we have to find a way out for prosperity, prosperity can really be achieved together," he said.

Rotiklot Dam itself can irrigate 139 hectares of land. In addition, this dam can also be used for hydroelectric power plants, tourist attractions, and for raw water for all residents in Belu District,

"We hope that later the other dams will also be immediately resolved by the Minister of Public Works and then the demand for dams that are still under discussion and calculation," he continued.

The total capacity of this dam is 3.30 million cubic meters with a pool area of ​​29.91 hectares and an effective reservoir of 2.33 million cubic meters. The dam is a side-type type with a 12 meter spacing width, a channel length of 255.59 meters, a dam height of 42.50 meters, a peak width of 10 meters, and a peak length of 415.82 meters.

The dam has been worked on since the end of 2015 with a target time of 1,110 days in line with the state budget funds for the 2015-2018 budget year with a construction contract value of IDR 497 billion. He hopes that the people of Belu Regency can feel the benefits of the Rotiklot Dam.