Infrastructure and transportation are âreadyâ to accommodate the surge of people willing to travel ahead of and return after Idul Fitri, the government says
nfrastructure and transportation are 'ready' to accommodate the surge of people willing to travel ahead of and return after Idul Fitri, the government says.
Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto says the country's busiest national road network, Java's northern coastal highway (Pantura), is in good shape and major problems such as holes and uneven roads between Merak, Banten and Surabaya, East Java, have been repaired.
'We started the repair work on Pantura since early 2013 [...] the work is also aimed at maintaining its shape because average daily traffic in Pantura is high and it keeps increasing every year,' he said on Friday.
He added that the ministry had spent 40 percent of the Rp 1.28 trillion (US$124.16 million) allocated this year on the repair work, which was carried out every year ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday.
Djoko also said that 229 out of 1,316 kilometers (km) of the road had been constructed with rigid surfacing instead of asphalt and another 106 km with high quality asphalt to better handle traffic.
The ministry has predicted that the average daily traffic would increase by 6 percent to 46,640 vehicles during the exodus.
Around 70 percent of 11.5 million vehicles traveling in this year's Idul Fitri holiday would pass through the highway, according to data from the Transportation Ministry.
In addition, Djoko said three overpass projects worth Rp 309 billion along the highway had been finished. The projects are located in Kali Banteng in Semarang, Central Java; Jombor in Yogyakarta; and Peterongan in Jombang, East Java.
The Pantura repair works seemed to be very repetitive so the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) is carrying out an investigation.
'We're collecting data and making the mapping. It will be completed soon,' BPK chairman Hadi Poernomo earlier said, adding the focus of the investigation was on why the road needed repairs every year and vehicle tonnage regulations, among other things.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is also verifying reports by the public about alleged corruption in the Pantura roadwork projects.
'We've just received reports and we're verifying them,' KPK chairman Abraham Samad earlier said.
Meanwhile, Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang S. Ervan said the Rp 9.8 trillion Trans-Java double-track railway project would be ready by the end of this year 'so that the burden of the dense highway will decrease in next year's Idul Fitri holiday'.
Separately, state railway operator PT KAI's Operational Region (Daop) VI Yogyakarta would operate six additional trains to anticipate the growing number of passengers that could reach 157,000 ' a 7 percent increase from last year ' during the annual exodus, said Daop VI's spokesperson Sumarsono.
Riau Transportation Agency head Surya Maulana said 19 ships and 80 flights had been prepared to handle travelers this year.
The ships will help transport people who want to travel between the Sumatran province and the islands in the Malacca Straits while the flights will connect them to destinations across Sumatra and Java.
Budget allocation for repair work on Java's northern highway
Year Total budget
2010 Rp 1.47 trillion
2011 Rp 1.22 trillion
2012 Rp 1.03 trillion
2013 Rp 1.02 trillion
Rizal Harahap contributed to this story.
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