TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Serang-Panimbang toll road project halted after worker suspected of contracting COVID-19
Construction of the toll road, which will connect Serang and the Tanjung Lesung Special Economic Zone (SEZ), was suspended on April 16 for 14 days
Change Size
An excavator loads a dump truck at the construction site of the Serang-Panimbang toll road in Pasarkeong, Lebak regency, Banten, in this undated file photo. (Antara/Muhammad Bagus Khoirunas)
T
he Public Works and Housing Ministry has temporarily suspended construction of the Serang-Panimbang toll road in Banten after a worker was named a person under surveillance (PDP) for COVID-19.
Construction of the toll road, which will connect Serang and the Tanjung Lesung Special Economic Zone (SEZ), was suspended on April 16 for 14 days. Workers will continue to receive their usual wages, according to the ministry’s statement released on Thursday.
The ministry stated that infrastructure construction projects could be temporarily halted due to force majeure, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The temporary halt does not mean the rights of construction workers, subcontractors, producers, and suppliers involved in the project to their wages will be neglected. The construction workers' wages will continue to be paid [during temporary suspension],” the ministry’s statement reads.
The Serang-Panimbang toll road is a Rp 5.22 trillion public-private partnership project, with the government working with state-owned construction firm Wijaya Karya.
Section one of the toll road is 57.31 percent complete and was scheduled to open in 2022. The toll road is intended to support the development of the Tanjung Lesung SEZ and the Ujung Kulon National Park as travel time from Jakarta to Tanjung Lesung will be cut to only two to three hours from four to five hours today.
The toll road will have a length of 83.67 kilometers (km) with three sections. Section one from Serang to Rangkasbitung stretches 26.5 km, while section two from Rangkasbitung to Cileles will be 24.17 km and section three from Cileles to Panimbang will be 33 km.
