JAKARTA – The Ministry of Public Works and Housing is working on the construction of the Budong-Budong Dam in Central Mamuju Regency, West Sulawesi Province.
The first dam in West Sulawesi is included in the list of National Strategic Projects according to Presidential Regulation No. 109 of 2020 to increase the amount of water storage in order to support food and water security programmes.
Minister of Public Works and Housing Basuki Hadimuljono said that infrastructure development, which is the focus of the government, is not only pursuing economic growth and increasing competitiveness, but also equitable distribution of development results by taking into account the needs of the community.
“The construction of the dam is followed by the construction of its irrigation network. Thus, the dam that was built at a large cost can be useful because the water is ensured to flow to the farmers’ fields,” said Minister Basuki.
Budong-Budong Dam was built by the Sulawesi River Basin (BWS) III, Directorate General of Water Resources of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, with a storage capacity of 65.18 million m³ in the context of developing and improving Irrigation Areas (DI) covering 3,577 hectares.
Head of BWS Sulawesi III of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing Dedi Yudha Lesmana said that the construction contract for the construction of the Budong-Budong Dam had started on 8 December 2020.
Meanwhile, construction work on the dam began in September 2023.
“The construction of the first dam in West Sulawesi is still in the construction completion stage with a physical progress of 27%,” he said.
The construction was carried out by contractor PT Abipraya-Bumi Karsa, KSO and Supervision Consultant PT Indra Karya – PT Tuah Agung Anugrah – PT Ciriajasa E.C, KSO at a cost of Rp1.02 trillion.
Budong-Budong Dam also has a potential raw water benefit of 410 litres/second.
Central Mamuju Regency as a developing area is expected to have many development activities both in wetland agriculture and industrial activities that require raw water from dam water sources.
In addition to irrigation and raw water supply, the construction of this dam is also indispensable as a flood control for disaster-prone areas such as Budong-Budong, Topoyo, and Karossa sub-districts by reducing 60% from 341.59 m³/sec to 106.76 m³/sec.
The area of Kabupaten Mamuju Tengah is traversed by seven rivers, namely the Budong-Budong, Lumu, Karama, Karossa, Benggaulu, Kamansi, and Panggajoang Rivers, which flow from the hilly area in the east to the coastal area to the west and empties into the sea waters of the Makassar Strait.
Budong-Budong Dam will be built by damming the Salulebbo River, which is a tributary of Budong-Budong.
Mamuju Tengah Regency itself has an area of 306,527 km² which is dominated by dry land of around 38% and around 24% secondary dry land.
The district consists of five sub-districts, namely Tobadak, Pangale, Budong-Budong, Topoyo, and Karossa, with leading commodities such as rice and secondary crops as well as oil palm, cocoa, coconut, citrus, coffee, medicinal plants, and aromatics (patchouli).
Administratively, Budong-Budong Dam is located in Salulebo Village, Topoyo Sub-district, with a service area covering Tobadak Irrigation Area, Sulobaja, Bambadaru, Sallogata, Tinali, Barakkang, and Hada Valley.
