Jatigede Project Acceration Not Related To China: Hatta

Jakarta, June 4 (Antara) - The acceleration of Jati Gede dam project has nothing to do with the interest of China that will provide a loan, Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa said here on Tuesday. "It does not have any relation or agreement with China. The relation with China only deals with the provision of the loan," Hatta said after a coordination meeting. The minister said the presence of Jatigede dam was for the interest of people living around the dam, and therefore the development should be sped up. Hatta also denied an assumption that compensation for the people who were relocated from the site of the project came from China, but from the state budget. "The presence of the dam is very important because is not for irrigation and agriculture alone," Hatta said. The West Java administration is determined to settle social problems hindering construction of the Jatigede dam project in Sumedang district. The dam is being built on a 4,891-hectare land area covering five districts across 26 sub districts. The project is expected to provide input for drinking water production reaching 3,500 liters per second while also producing 110 Megawatts of electricity. In order to help speed up construction of the project, which had been planned since 1963, the government has established a "one-roof" team whose membership consisted of officials from various institutions, including the police, the prosecutors� office and the education and culture office. The team has been instructed to settle various problems related to social, cultural and environmental issues related to the project, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Public Works. Hatta noted that from the first verification in the past, around 4,590 heads of family would be relocated, and outside the verification, there were another 2,713 heads of family to be relocate. He said the Jatigede dam will be the second largest dam in Indonesia after Jatiluhur dam in Purwakarta with water volume of up to one billion cubic meters.