REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- The Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Ministry said it is set to spend at least 93 percent of its spending budget this year.

"Until now we have spent 70 percent of the budget target," PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimoeljono said after visiting a dam project in Ponorogo, East Java, on Tuesday.

He said the ministry is now focused on accelerating development of a number of infrastructure projects including dams, opening roads in frontier areas and building new toll road projects.

He said construction already underway for 13 dam projects this year and progress has been in line with the target.

In 2016, there will be eight more dam projects to be built, he added.

Tender would be open this month for one of the dam projects to be followed with tenders for the rest early 2016, he said.

In five years, the ministry has a target to build 49 dams including dams to feed hydroelectric plants (PLTA).

"There are 16 locations of dams where PLTAs would be built such as in Perjaya dam in Komering, South Sumatra and the Berantas dam in East Java," he said.

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Around 40 of the 49 dams could feed PLTAs to contribute to reaching the target of building new power plants with a total capacity of 35,000 megawatts.

Construction of dams with PLTAs is still awaiting regulation of the finance minister as the projects involve state assets.

Construction of the PLTA projects would be built in synergy with the state power utility PLN which will build the plants and provide the transmission networks.

The PUPR ministry will only build the dams.

Basuki said the projects attract the private investors and the ministry is ready to cooperate with them.

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