Makassar City, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, has a population of more than 1,000,000 and is the social and economic center of the region. The city and the surrounding areas were suffering from floods almost every year in a rainy season and from the shortage of water supply in a dry season due to rapid urbanization.

To mitigate these chronic problems and to enhance the economic development and better urban life conditions, CTI recommended the Bili Bili Multipurpose Dam as a core component of the Jeneberang River Comprehensive Development Project in 1981. Designed with functions to regulate a 50 year probable flood and the supply of 3.3 m³/s of municipal water for Ujung Pandang City, as well as irrigation water for about 25,000 ha of paddy fields.

The dam was designed to protect the city from floods with up to a 50-year recurrence interval and secure 5.05m3/s of drinking and industrial water as well as irrigation water for about 24,000ha of paddy fields. It also provides hydropower generation with a total capacity of 17 MW.

The dam is of a center core rockfill type with a height of 73m, a length of 1,800m and a storage capacity of 375 million m3.　With funds from JBIC, the construction started in 1991 and completed in 1998.