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Govt allots Rp 1.4t for Pantura repairs
The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will allocate state budget funds of Rp 1
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he Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will allocate state budget funds of Rp 1.4 trillion (US$111.9 million) for repairs on Java's northern coastal highway (Pantura) this year, higher than last year's allocation of Rp 1.3 trillion.
The ministry's Bina Marga directorate general secretary, Yusid Toyib, said on Wednesday the ministry had no other choice but to increase Pantura's maintenance budget every year because the highway had sustained constant damage from heavy loaded trucks.
Pantura is considered the most congested road corridor in Java.
'Repairs on the highway are never made properly because we can only overlay the roads to avoid traffic congestion. That's why the budget balloons every year,' Yusid said.
Out of the Rp 1.4 trillion budget allocated for Pantura, he said, around Rp 291.9 billion would be allocated for repairs on the West Java section of the road, Rp 914.8 billion for Central Java and Rp 291.9 billion for East Java.
Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said repairs on Pantura would never see proper completion without easing traffic on the road first, which could be achieved by commencing operations of the Cikampek-Palimanan toll road.
He said the ministry expected to open the Cikampek (West Java)-Palimanan (Central Java) toll road before June this year, to help ease traffic on Pantura and speed up repairs ahead of the Idul Fitri exodus.
'We need more space to fully carry out repairs as traffic flow will be disrupted. Therefore, we expect to open the Cikampek-Palimanan toll road before June this year,' the minister told reporters.
Infrastructure firm PT Lintas Marga Sedaya kicked off construction of Cikampek-Palimanan or the Cipali toll road, which is part of the Trans-Java toll road network, in December 2011.
The toll-road construction was divided into six sections: Cikopo-Kalijati (29.12 km), Kalijati-Subang (9.56 km), Subang-Cikedung (31.37 km), Cikedung-Kertajati (17.66 km), Kertajati-Sumberjaya (14.51 km) and Sumberjaya-Palimanan (13.78 km).
The minister said the toll-road project had reached 80 percent completion.
