Jakarta. State-owned construction firm PTPP is responsible for the freshly inaugurated Lau Simeme Dam in North Sumatra.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo launched the project on Wednesday, and this officially became the 47th dam that the government had launched over the past decade of the outgoing leader’s presidency.

According to a press release, PTPP was the main contractor of this national strategic project. The company was responsible for two working packages, namely package 2 and the continuation package. Both are worth approximately Rp 738 billion (around $47 million). These packages had an implementation period that started in 2017 and lasted until this year.

PTPP reported that the Lau Simeme Dam boasted a storage capacity of 21.07 million cubic meters, and had a pool area of ​​125.85 hectares.

The dam will help supply 2.85 cubic meters of raw water per second (1,307 cubic meters/second for Medan and 1,543 cubic meters/second for Deli Serdang). It can also help reduce flood in Medan and its surrounding areas by 289 cubic meters per second (with an early release gate). The dam can also help generate 1 megawatt of power.

“This dam is large. Once the water fills up, you will see how vast the Lau Simeme dam is. I hope that this dam will give benefits to North Sumatra,” Jokowi said when inaugurating the project.

According to PTPP’s infrastructure operations director Yul Ari Pramuraharjo, the company has completed another national strategic project. Jokowi not long ago launched the Leuwikeris dam in West Java, and the Tiu Suntuk dam in West Nusa Tenggara. PTPP worked on both of these projects.

“We are proud of having completed [of the Lau Simeme dam]. The Public Works Ministry has entrusted us to finish the national strategic projects, including infrastructure projects like dams, tollways, ports, to name a few,” Yul Ari said.

“PTPP wishes to continue to take part in national development, especially infrastructure projects across the Indonesian archipelago,” Yul Ari added.