Oct 25, 2009

IRIGATION JATIGEDE

West Java mega-dam looms
A notorious dam project, designed during the Suharto era, is due to go ahead next year despite opposition from local people and NGOs supporting them.

The Jatigede dam, in Sumedang, West Java, is being billed as the answer to flooding and drought problems in the northern lowlands of West Java. The government claims it will provide 90,000 hectares of farmland with irrigated water, increase the rice harvest as well as generate electricity for industry and supply clean drinking water for residents. But the dam will also flood around 6,000 hectares of land - much of which is highly fertile farmland - and drown 30 villages, forcing over 28,000 people to move from their homes and land.

These people want the project stopped. They have suffered a series of human rights violations since the land acquisition process started in the 1980s (the project has been planned since the 1960s). In September around 400 protesters gathered outside the West Java governor's office in Bandung, demanding a halt to the dam. They said the project would harm their futures and cause social problems. They called for the dam to be built on an alternative non-productive site.

History of intimidation and torture

A September 2003 report compiled by the Bandung branch of the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Bandung) documents the human rights violations associated with the project's land acquisition process, and describes how this process broke various laws and regulations along the way. The report, which characterises the case as "an extraordinary crime", describes the intimidation against villagers who refused to accept the low compensation levels set by the government. As was common during the 1980s and 1990s, people who objected to poor treatment at the hands of the government were threatened with being branded as members of the outlawed communist party, the PKI. In one incident in 1987, a group of 16 villagers were summoned to the Sumedang district military command. They were accused of stirring up political unrest, interrogated, and two of the group were severely beaten and kicked. As a result, says the LBH report, some of these people suffered permanent physical disabilities (including hearing loss) and/or psychological problems.

The history behind Jatigede invites comparisons with the World Bank-funded Kedung Ombo dam in neighbouring Central Java. This also involved forcible evictions, low compensation levels unilaterally set by government officials, plus a campaign of violence and intimidation against anyone who resisted. The World Bank admitted some of the failings of this project, but the dam's victims have never seen justice for the human rights violations they suffered and the compensation dispute remains unresolved today. (For more background to Kedung Ombo 

FUNCTION JATIGEDE


The First Explosion as Structure Work Symbol of Jatigede Project
Project team of Jatigede Dam has already carried out ceremonial structure work by Inspektorat Jenderal Sumber Daya Manusia of Public Work Department on October 23, 2008 in Sumedang, West Java. The ceremony was symbolized by pushing explosion knob in location of inlet diversion Tunnel.

The ceremony was attended by Governor of West Java which reprepresented by Local Secretary, Regent of Sumedang Regency, Indramayu Regent, Majalengka Regent and Functional of Local Government in West Java Province and Sumedang Regency.
The project of Jatigede Dam with contract value in amount of IDR 2, 1 trillion is trusted to Sinohydro-CIC Joint Operation. CIC is consortium of Indonesian Contractor state owned enterprises which consist of PT Wijaya Karya Tbk (WIKA), PT Waskita Karya, PT Pembangunan Perumahan and PT Hutama Karya.
WIKA is as leader of consortium with Ir. Ardhyasa Yutono, MBA as project manager. The portion of CIC work is 33 % (IDR 723 billion). Meanwhile portion of WIKA work is IDR 180 billion in Spillway location.

The project is the biggest project in Indonesia after Jatiluhur Dam in Purwakarta, West Java with water capacity at rainy season in amount 2, 5 million m3 /year.

The main function from construction of Jatigede dam is as irrigation resources in north beach of West Java. The dam will be used as power plant resources to support acceleration of electricity supplier by government. To solve deficiency of clean water in north beach (pantura), the dam will be water resources. Government of Sumedang regency also has a plan to make the dam area as water recreation to increase local income.

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