Dam worth Rp 24.6b collapses after less than a year

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Sun, 06/24/2012


A dam costing Rp 24.6 billion (US$2.59 million) used for irrigating ride paddies in Pedanda Village in Mamuju Utara regency, West Sulawesi, collapsed due to poor construction.

The dam was less than one year old.

"We question the quality of construction work that was put into this dam. A lot of the state budget money was spent building it," Mamuju Utara lawmaker, Aksan Yamby, said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.

This broken dam, Aksan said, has become a huge loss for the country, and the public has yet to feel the dam’s benefits.

“We suspect that the contractor responsible for this project didn’t build the dam strong enough, which is why it collapsed so easily under constant river pressure,” Askan said.

Aksan called on law enforcers to investigate the circumstances behind the dam’s collapse.