Gunungkidul – The Indonesian Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto inspected the installation of clean water pipes in Kalurahan Banyusoco, Playen, Gunungkidul, Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), on Monday (3/6).

This assistance, provided by the Ministry of Defense (Kemhan) and the Defense University (Unhan) of Indonesia, aims to help communities experiencing a clean water crisis.

Regions in Gunungkidul have been known to suffer from drought and difficulties in accessing water over the last few months, especially during the dry season.

Locals use this assistance for agricultural irrigation. Rector of Unhan RI Jonni Mahroza stated that the clean water pipe aid program could help the Gunungkidul community to harvest up to three times a year.

“The water flow can reach 15 liters per second, sufficient to supply all 82 tanks,” added Jonni.

Prabowo echoed this statement, revealing that previously, the local community could only harvest once a year.

“This means the community can now harvest three times, whereas previously it was only once,” explained Prabowo.

For your information, the water source in Kalurahan Banyusoco originates from a cave in the area. Currently, work is being done on 16 clean water source points in the Cave, which can irrigate about 7,400 hectares of agricultural land.

One cave water source can irrigate about 1,000 ha, 700 ha, and at the lowest, 200 ha of agricultural land.

Previously, Minister Prabowo also inaugurated 11 clean water source points in Gunungkidul and Bantul, Central Java in August 2023.

Overall, the Unhan RI Water Task Force has discovered water sources and built clean water installations at over 130 locations across various regions in Indonesia, including West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Yogyakarta, West Java, Southwest Maluku, and Banten throughout 2023.

The inauguration event was also attended by several TNI and Unhan officials, including the Vice-Rector I for Academic and Planning of Unhan RI Laksda TNI Agus Adriyanto, the Military Commander V/DIP Mayjen TNI Deddy Suryadi, the Military District Commander 072/Pamungkas Brigjen TNI Zaenul Bahar, and a Permanent Lecturer at Unhan RI Marsma TNI E. Soni Astaryadi.