The government has made yet another delay for the construction of the long-awaited Trans-Sumatra highway project, now set to kick off in October instead of September.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said on Saturday that state-owned construction company PT Hutama Karya, which was appointed by the ministry to construct the first four segments of the highway project, had already finished its business plan, and thus could start the 16-month project on Oct. 9.

The first four segments connect Medan to Binjai in North Sumatra, Pekanbaru to Dumai in Riau, Bakauheni to Bandar Lampung in Lampung and Palembang to Indralaya in South Sumatra.

The company, however, would still need to submit its business plan to the Public Works Ministry to be approved, he said.

'€œIn principle, the groundbreaking may start on Oct. 9, on the condition that a presidential decree [on the appointment of Hutama Karya as the project'€™s contractor] is issued no later than July 21,'€ he said after meeting with executives of several state enterprises at the ministry.

The Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister is currently working on finalizing the draft of the presidential decree, according to Dahlan.

Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung previously said the government had decided that construction of the toll road should begin in September before the new government took office in October.

The 2,700-kilometer toll road project will stretch from Aceh to Lampung in 24 sections connecting major cities in Sumatra.

Deputy for infrastructure at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Dedy S. Priatna, earlier said that total investment for the four sections would reach around Rp 47 trillion (US$4.06 billion).

To construct the entire toll road, the government needs to acquire 218,976 million square meters of land.

But Dahlan said that no significant land acquisition issues would hinder the first phase of the project because it would be built on land mainly owned by state-owned companies, such as plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara VII, despite the fact that the government was currently still negotiating on some plots of land to be used for the project and was paying out for some other plots of land.

The project would also involve several other state-owned companies, such as cement maker PT Semen Indonesia and toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, as well as, if possible, several regional administrations for financing matters, he said.

The Trans-Sumatra toll road project is part of the infrastructure projects under the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI), which is expected to support ASEAN connectivity projects.

ASEAN connectivity projects are designed to connect ASEAN member states to one another.

The Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister earlier said it was moving to fast-track 15 priority infrastructure projects for groundbreaking or completion this year.

Among those projects are the Rp 14.9 trillion Cilamaya Port in West Java, the Rp 8.29 trillion Kertajati Airport in West Java, the expansion of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten and the completion of the Rp 4 trillion Jatigede Dam in Sumedang, West Java.

As of April, the dam was 87 percent complete and still needed around $55 million in funds to be finished. (ask)

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