Denpasar (Antara Bali) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would undertake Bali's Titab dam project in Buleleng District to water irrigation systems in the region.
"The government will allocate funds for the Titab dam project in Buleleng district," the President said in a teleconference with Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika in Renon, Denpasar, on Tuesday.
The president said the physical and technical construction of the dam would be done the Public Works Ministry.
Governor Mangku Pastika told the president the provincial government still did not know how much funds were needed to build the dam but would calculate the cost in more detail later as it must also include the amount required to clearing the needed land.
Bali's provincial government would allocate funds from its 2011 budget (APBD) to build the Titab dam in Busungbiu sub-district but was also expecting funds from the central government, he said.
On the occasion, the President also inaugurated several other projects carried out by the Public Works Ministry such as the Benel dam in Jembrana district.
Governor Mangku Pastika mentioned the local government's plan to throw fingerlings into the water of the 1,005 hectare-wide lake of Benel dam which had a capacity to let through 1.59 cubic meters of water per second. The dam's existence in general was expected to to increase the value of the local community's economy. (*)
