TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
E. Java admits slow work in southern coast highway
The East Java provincial administration admitted the construction of the southern coastal highway has been slow going due to topographic challenges
Change Size
The East Java provincial administration admitted the construction of the southern coastal highway has been slow going due to topographic challenges.
The highway stretches from Banyuwangi regency in the east to Pacitan regency in the west
The administration said it might not complete the 627-kilometer highway project estimate to cost Rp 3.1 trillion (US$265.52 million) by 2012 as scheduled.
The highway megaproject chief, Joko Purwanto, said over the weekend that last year the project only managed to finish the opening of a 26-km section in a mountainous area in Blitar, including the hardening of a 4.7-km section and the asphalting of a 4.4-km span.
"The slow work has a lot to do with the difficult terrain. High hills and deep ravines require additional heavy equipment and operators. Plus it's difficult to operate them during the rainy season," he told The Jakarta Post.
"Besides, we have to coordinate with local administrations and the Forestry Ministry to compensate villagers and the state-owned forestry firm PT Perhutani for their land being taken over for the road."
The highway is part of the trans-Java highway connecting southern coastal areas of Central Java, Yogyakarta, West Java and Banten provinces to end the isolation in the southern part of the island and spur economic activity.
In East Java, the project must acquire 13.5 million square meters of land from Ketapang in Banyuwangi to Pacitan.
Currently, three main arteries traverse Java: the northern coastal (Pantura), the central and the southern highways. The central and southern highways are far more winding and narrow than the broad and relatively straight Pantura highway.
Joko said before President Megawati Soekarnoputri launched the southern highway project in 2002, the provincial transportation agency had conducted a feasibility study and taken remote images.
He said from 2002 to 2008, 74.6 kms of road had been laid down as well as 1.7 kms of the 6.5 kms of bridges planned
"This year, we are asking to acquire portions of protected forest in Blitar, Trenggalek and Tulungagung regencies," he said.
When asked about the funds spent in the past six years, Joko said the construction of the 74.6-km road had consumed Rp 232.2 billion from state budgets, Rp 272.8 billion from provincial budgets and Rp 75.1 billion from regency budgets.
"The project is closely supervised by provincial authorities and audited annually by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK)," he added.
Joko said this year construction will lay down the 5.5-km Pacitan-Prigi section, the 12-km Grejo-Sirene Beach section in Tulungagung, the 5-km Tulungagung-Jolosutro section in Blitar and the 9-km Selok Awar-Jatimulyo section in Lumajang.
