The construction of the first phase of the Temef Dam, carried out by state-owned company PT Waskita Karya, in South Central Timor district, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, has reached 78-percent completion.
Head of the engineering department of the company, Agasi Yudho, made the statement to ANTARA here on Wednesday.
In fact, 81 percent of the construction target should have been achieved, he added.
“The development has been delayed since we had to face a number of obstacles in 2021,” he informed.
One of the obstacles was the absence of workers and employees due to COVID-19 exposure, he said.
“Many of them suffered from the disease when the Delta variant spread massively (in mid-2021); thus the project could not run well for two months,” he added.
In addition, the development was also impacted by the Seroja cyclone, which hit the region in April 2021, he said.
According to the contract, the first phase of construction of the largest dam in the province was targeted to be completed by April 2022, Yudho noted.
However, considering the progress of the project, which is still lagging by 4 percent, he said the company will seek an extension of the deadline.
“We are targeting to finish the first phase by May or June 2022,” he added.
The central government decided to build Temef Dam to address frequent droughts in the region, he said.
The construction of the dam began in 2018 and was to be carried out in two phases, he added.
The first phase has been implemented by PT Waskita Karya and PT Bahagia Bangun Nusa through a joint operation scheme (KSO), while the second phase will be carried out by state-run PT Nindya Karya through a KSO with PT Bina Nusa Lestari, he said.
The reservoir is being built at a cost of Rp1.4 trillion and is scheduled to be completed in late 2022, he added.
Besides the Temef Dam, the government is also building Manikin/Tefmo Dam in the province, which is targeted to be finished in 2022, he said.
Source: Antara News