Road repair work nearly completed ahead of exodus

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 09/20/2007 3:00 PM

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, Yogyakarta

Repair works on major roads in West Java, especially the busy lane along the northern part of the province, are nearly complete, an official said Wednesday.

""The repair works are 80 percent complete,"" said Thahir Sastrodiningrat, head of the West Java Road Construction Office.

Thahir said the repair works, which were aimed at providing convenience to travellers during next month's Idul Fitri, were carried out on both the north and south lanes.

Millions of Jakartans travel to their hometowns in West, Central and East Java during the Idul Fitri holidays.

Repair works had also been carried out on several alternative roads used by Idul Fitri travelers to avoid traffic congestion, he said.

He said repair works had been carried out in, among other areas, Cadas Pangeran area between Bandung and Sumedang, Cipatujah in Tasikmalaya and another roads linking Cibeet and Cileungsi in Bogor.

Thahir said the roadwork ranged from the laying of new asphalt to concrete-based construction like the 500-meter section in Nagreg, West Java and one-kilometer section on Jl. Soekarno-Hatta in Bandung.

""We are working hard to make it convenient for drivers during this year's Idul Fitri holiday. We aim to complete all road repairs at least two weeks before the Idul Fitri celebration,"" he said.

In West Java alone, there are roads with a total length of 18,000 kilometers, consisting of roads belonging to the state and the provincial and regency administrations.

He said as of May this year, around 4 percent of the roads on the northern coasts were heavily damaged and another 68 percent were slightly damaged.

Thahir said the road repairs cost around Rp 390 billion (US$43.30 million), which was provided by the provincial budget. ""Funding also came from the state budget,"" he said.

Confirmation of the repair works also came from members of the West Java Legislative Council, who conduction a field study on major roads in Bekasi, Purwakarta, Bandung, Tasikmalaya and Banjar.

Adi Gunawan, head of the council's Commission D, which oversees infrastructure, said the road maintenance had begun earlier in the year.

Despite concerted efforts, however, sections of roads in Bekasi, Sumedang and Indramayu were still in a poor condition due to the limited availability of funds, he said.

""Road repairs in the above-mentioned areas require funds of around Rp 30 billion, but we can only provide about Rp 9 million. We will prepare more funds next year,"" he added.

Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, the province's Land Transportation Organization (Organda DIY) predicted the number of travelers to the province during this year's exodus from Jakarta would drop by 4 to 8 percent compared to last year's figure.

Organda DIY's chairman Johny Sunu attributed the lower prediction to economic reasons. In 2006 the number of travellers to Yogyakarta reached 622,653, falling from 835,000 in 2005, he said.

""We predict the figure will fall a further 4 to 8 percent this year,"" Johny said, adding his organization would deploy 640 buses to transport travelers.

""The buses will serve several routes, with the most important route from Jakarta to Yogyakarta,"" he said.

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