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Tanjung Priok toll road open to traffic
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Faster lane: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (center), Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono (left) and Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (right) inspect the Tanjung Priok toll road on the sidelines of the toll road's operational inauguration on Saturday. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Saturday officially opened the Tanjung Priok toll road to traffic. As part of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR), it was built to improve the efficiency of moving vehicles to and from North Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port, the country’s busiest.
The construction of the 11.4-kilometer toll road, which connects the JORR and the Jakarta Inner Ring Road, began in 2008 and was financed by more than Rp 4.1 trillion (US$307.5 million) in loans from the Japanese government.
The completion of the toll road was delayed for about six years because of issues related to land acquisition and technical matters, including the reconstruction of 69 concrete piles.
(Read also: Tanjung Priok vows to reduce container shipment cost)
President Jokowi said he expected the road would help thousands of container trucks more efficiently access Tanjung Priok Port every day.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, meanwhile, estimated that the new toll road would cut about an hour off the trip to the port.
“The faster the trip the better our competitiveness in the transportation of goods. This will also help firms reduce their overall production costs,” he said.
For the next 30 days, drivers can use the Tanjung Priok toll road free of charge.
Tanjung Priok Port serves as the country’s main gateway for international trade. It handles almost 70 percent of the country’s imports. (yon/hwa)
