A

span class="inline inline-left">A long and winding road: An aerial view of the newly-built Bali Mandara toll road in the waters of Benoa Bay, Nusa Dua, Bali. The 12.1 kilometer-long road was inaugurated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday. Antara/Satya Bati Forget the annoying traffic congestion on your way to Nusa Dua, Benoa Bay and Ngurah Rai airport that has become the bane of your life and caused severe headaches.

The island'€™s first toll road, now officially called the Bali Mandara toll road, has at last been opened to the public with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signing a commemorative plaque to mark its official opening on a hot Monday afternoon.

The President and his entourage '€” Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik '€” alongside Governor Made Mangku Pastika and other VIP guests were the first to officially use the road.

'€œI pronounce this road the Bali Mandara toll road, meaning '€˜great Bali '€” Bali that moves forward'€™, is safe, prosperous and peaceful,'€ the President said during the opening ceremony.

Many names had been suggested for the so-called '€œmost beautiful'€ toll road in Indonesia. However, the final choice '€” a closely guarded secret to the end, was adopted from Pastika'€™s pet social welfare programs improving health care, education, agriculture and community-based programs. Mandara is an acronym made up from Indonesian words '€” maju (move forward), aman (safe), damai (peaceful) and sejahtera (prosperous).

The authorities are claiming that this is the fastest completion of an infrastructure project, taking only 14 months. The 12.7-kilometer-long toll road had been constructed over the sea and, in part, runs through protected mangrove forests.

Numerous academics, scholars and environmentalists had voiced serious concerns over the construction of the toll road, which deviated from its approved environmental impact analysis and badly affected both the mangroves and surrounding marine habitat.

Local fishermen and nearby fishing villages also no longer have access to their previous fishing grounds.

The Rp 2.48 trillion (US$220 million) highway has been built under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme involving seven state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the Bali administration and Badung regency administration.

The SOEs involved on the project were PT Jasa Marga; PT Pelindo III; PT Angkasa Pura I; PT Pengembangan Pariwisata Bali; PT Wijaya Karya; PT Adhi Karya, and PT Hutama Karya. PT Jasa Marga has the biggest ownership, at 55 percent, while the provincial and Badung regency administrations each have 8.01 percent ownership.

The toll road is free to use for the first week and then becomes fully operational on Oct. 1. From that date, motorists have to pay to use the road. Tariffs have been set at Rp 4,000 for motorcycles and
Rp 10,000 for cars, with more expensive prices for trucks.

It is predicted that daily traffic will reach 39,000 vehicles per day, 56 percent of which will be motorcycles.