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5 strategic toll road projects effectively kick off
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signed contracts on five toll road projects worth a total of Rp 48.8 trillion. (thejakartapost.com/Ayomi Amindoni)
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greements worth a total of Rp 48.8 trillion (US$3.6 billion) for five toll road projects, some of which experienced years of delay due to land acquisition issues, have been signed at the State Palace.
The contracts are on the 39-kilometer Manado-Bitung toll road in North Sulawesi, the 99-km Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road in East Kalimantan, the 180-km Terbanggi Besar-Kayu Agung toll road in Lampung and South Sumatra, the 37-km Pandaan-Malang toll road in East Java and the 30-km Serpong-Balaraja toll road in Banten.
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said the projects, stretching for 390 km in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi, have a total value of Rp 48.8 trillion and are expected to improve regional connectivity, which would eventually lead to lower logistics costs and boost economic growth.
"This achievement is evidence of the joint effort of the central government and local administrations in resolving the problems in infrastructure development," he said on Thursday in Jakarta, adding that the five toll roads were part of the national strategic projects.
He further said that the Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang-Kayu Agung toll road in Lampung and South Sumatra was part of the trans-Sumatra highway, a project run by state-owned firm Hutama Karya. Meanwhile, the remaining projects were public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
Hutama Karya president director I Gusti Ngurah Putra estimated that more than Rp 20 trillion was needed to construct the toll roads. "The average investment per kilometer is around Rp 110 billion. For 180 km, it means the required investment is Rp 20 trillion," he said.
Meanwhile, the President acknowledged that land acquisition was the main issue hampering infrastructure projects, including the toll road projects. He pointed out that the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road had been stalled for four years due to land acquisition problems.
However, he ensured that the government would keep striving to solve the problems through deregulation. (ags)
