The Caretaker of an Artificial Lake

Seventy-two-year-old Amak Abdul Halim has spent years dreaming of growing rice. To realize this dream, he has encouraged locals to create an \'embung\' (artificial lake) as a source of irrigation in the hamlet.

Kompas/Khaerul Anwar

Amak Abdul Halim alias Meh

Seventy-two-year-old Amak Abdul Halim, or Meh as he is often called, has spent years dreaming of growing rice. To realize this dream, he has encouraged locals to create an embung (artificial lake) as a source of irrigation in the hamlet. Meh’s dream has come true. His hamlet now has an artificial lake to irrigate 35 hectares of rice fields owned by locals.

Meh was busy when we met with him for an interview in Lendang Batu hamlet, East Sukamulia village, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, in late February. He was clearing the hamlet’s artificial lake of water hyacinths, plastic waste, dried leaves, pieces of tree trunks and branches carried away by the river. The waste gathered at the irrigation culvert near the water’s entryway into the lake was also picked up.

He did not want the trash to clog the culvert and lead to floods like what happened earlier in the month. Due to the flooding, a number of spots along the technical irrigation culverts near the lake had their walls shifted.

Meh manages the artificial lake practically by himself. He routinely controls water volume, cleans the artificial lake from trash and adjusts the water distribution. “I also adjust water distribution in this artificial lake. If someone needs water, they have to come to me as I hold the entrance key to the lake,” Meh said.

He gets no payment for his work. However, he does not object. He has always wished to devote his life to manage the artificial lake for the greater good.

For him, the artificial lake means so much. He said that, before the lake was built; local farmers could only grow sugarcane, cassava and corn. The sales revenue from these crops were only Rp 1.5 million (US$109.5) a year.

Meh and other residents could not establish a rice field in the hamlet due to inadequate infrastructure. The river actually has a river that flows almost all year long. However, the river could not be channeled to local fields due to landscape.

Meh had always been concerned by this situation. The man who served as Lendang Batu hamlet chief for 22 years had done many efforts to channel the river into local fields. Many efforts had been attempted since the 2000s but all of them failed.

After learning more about his hamlet’s natural landscape, he concluded that there should be an artificial lake to contain water from the river. Water contained in the lake can be channeled into local rice fields through irrigation culverts.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Amaq Abdul Halim

Land donation

Meh tried to realize his dream to build a lake. As the river is located near his land, he donated part of the land to create the lake. “I have planned to donate my land for long to create a lake that benefits many. It’s my form of charity for the locals,” Meh said on Sunday (18/2).

However, the land donation alone was not enough. In order to create the artificial lake and irrigation culverts, a huge amount of funding was needed. It was impossible for Meh and other locals to provide this. Fortunately, in August 2017, he heard that the Agriculture Ministry was implementing a program to create new rice fields. Lendang Batu hamlet was one of the targeted areas.

“Hearing that our hamlet was included in the program, I immediately offered my land for the artificial lake,” he said. He donated 150 square meters out of his two hectares of land. He also urged his neighbors to donate their land.

Soon, the Agriculture Ministry provided a subsidy of Rp 235 million, taken from the 2017 state budget, to build the lake infrastructure. The lake was built independently by locals for two months.

The project realized an old dream of Meh and other Lendang Batu residents. The lake is now 55 meters long, 33 meters wide and 2.75 meters deep. It could contain almost 5,000 cubic meters of water.

Thanks to the lake, now water can be channeled to 35 hectares of rice fields belonging to 50 residents. With the irrigation system, Meh and other farmers in Lendang Batu could grow rice for the first time this year. “Hopefully I can harvest my field in a month,” Meh said, pointing at his flourishing rice paddies with grains beginning to grow on their stalks.

Nevertheless, Meh said that he was not yet satisfied. He said that he hoped the lake would be equipped with an irrigation channels so that it can benefit more residents in Lendang Batu and also in neighboring hamlets. He said that the lake contained enough water to irrigate 150 hectares of rice fields at once.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Amak Abdul Halim

Road construction

Other than the artificial lake, Meh also pioneered the construction of roads and the widening of rice field embankments. He talked with locals to donate just a bit of their lands to construct the road. At first, Meh found this to be difficult as most of the fields in the hamlet were managed by fieldworkers with the owners residing outside the village.

As the fieldworkers felt that they were not authorized to make any decision, Meh then contacted the land owners directly to talk about his plan. Through Meh’s approach, the land owners agreed to donate their land to expand road.

In the past two years, two roads have been constructed in two separate locations, each one kilometer and 50 meters long. Both are four meters wide. The roads that were built independently by locals has facilitated the mobility of agricultural tools and equipment into and out of the hamlet. It has also helped transporting production equipment and harvest yields in the hamlet.

Meh’s concern for his village’s social life might be derived from his 22-year experience as Lendang Batu hamlet chief. He still holds the record as the longest-serving hamlet head in East Sukamulia village. After resigning as hamlet head in 1999, he continued his efforts to realize his dreams for his hamlet, including by building the artificial lake and roads. As his goals were clear, locals responded positively to his ideas.

Meh said that he would continue building his hamlet. For the sake of his hamlet’s prosperity, he does not object to give his land, his ideas and his physical energy. His only wish is, “Spare a small plot of land near the artificial lake for my graveyard for when I’m gone.”