T

he government is set to start the construction of a toll road project connecting Rancakalong and Sumedang in West Java this week after a securing soft loan from China Exim Bank worth US$93 million.

Public Works Ministry spokesman Waskito Pandu said the section, which is part of the 58 kilometer Cileunyi–Sumedang–Dawuan (Cisumdawu) project, is expected to be completed in 2014.

“Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto plans to launch the project himself this week, and a joint operation between Indonesia and China will work on it,” Pandu said in Jakarta on Tuesday, referring to Shanghai Construction Group, Wijaya Karya and Waskita Karya as the contractors.

He said that land acquisition for the 17 kilometer section has reached 45 percent as of today, making the ministry confident that the project will be finished on time.

He also said the government will immediately continue the land acquisition process for four more sections of the Cisumdawu project as they finish the process in the Rancakalong–Sumedang section.

The sections are Sumedang–Cimalaka, Cimalaka–Legok, Legok–Ujungjaya, and Ujungjaya–Dawuan.

He refused to reveal the targeted completion date for all sections, but he said that the government is committed to accelerating the project, which is part of the TransJava toll road.

Earlier this month, the government kicked off another China-backed toll road project linking North Sumatra’s capital city of Medan with the planned Kuala Namu International Airport in Deli Serdang regency.

With a total investment of Rp 1.34 trillion ($140.08 million), 90 percent of which is from China Exim Bank and the remaining 10 percent from the state budget, construction is going to take around three years.

This project is part of the 40 kilometer Medan–Kuala Namu–Tebing Tinggi project that will link the province’s capital city not only to the new airport, but also to palm oil center of Tebing Tinggi.

The toll road is expected to help boost the regional economy.