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Govt prepares Rp 105 trillion to develop railways outside Java
(Courtesy of kereta-api
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(Courtesy of kereta-api.co.id) (Courtesy of kereta-api.co.id)
(Courtesy of kereta-api.co.id)
The Transportation Ministry is set to allocate Rp 105 trillion (US$7.126 billion) until 2019 to construct railways outside Java.
According to the ministry's expert staff, Hadi Mustofa Juraid, of the 6,500 kilometers of railway outside Java, only 3,500 km was in use.
'We are going to optimize the state budget to develop a transportation network outside Java,' said Hadi on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.
The budget allocation is said to include railway development in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua and several reactivated railways in Java.
For Trans-Sumatra, the ministry is ready to allocate around Rp 41.12 trillion to construct 1,399 km of new railway and reactivate 111 km.
'We will reactivate the 111-kilometer railway, which stretches from the east coast of Sumatra to Riau, Jambi and turns into Padang until Lampung. We will connect it with the railway in Medan, West Sumatra, which already exists,' said Hadi.
Meanwhile, for Trans-Sulawesi, the ministry is set to allocate around Rp 31.25 trillion until 2019 to construct a 1,772 km railway that will connect Makassar and Manado.
According to Hadi, the development of Trans-Sulawesi has begun and is estimated to be launched by the end of this year as the project's first phase that connects Makassar and Pare-pare has been built.
The ministry will also allocate around Rp 22.9 trillion to build the 2,428 km Trans-Kalimantan railway in five years. The project is currently in the feasibility study phase. The government's plan is to construct up to 2,500 km of railway from Pontianak in West Kalimantan to Samarinda in East Kalimantan.
'There are plans to use the [Trans-Kalimantan] railway to transport goods and coal. I heard [foreign investors] such as Qatar and Russia are interested [in doing business],' said Hadi.
In Papua, railway is set to reach 390 km, with a feasibility study aimed to begin this year. The budget is estimated to reach Rp 10.33 trillion.
The ministry will also reactivate railway tracks in several areas in Java and complete double tracks in the southern part of the island. It also plans to reconnect a maritime highway with railway by connecting it with seaports such as Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Emas in Semarang and Tanjung Perak in Surabaya. (kes)(++++)
