VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A farmer in Ngawen Hamlet, Maguwoharjo Village, Depok Sub-district, Sleman District, Yogyakarta Province, harvests rice in his paddy field. Local farmers expressed concerns over the Yogyakarta-Solo toll road project. ANTARA/Victorianus Sat Pranyoto

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo revealed that construction of the 50-kilometer-long toll road connecting the cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta in Central Java would commence in November 2020.

State-owned construction firm PT Adhi Karya confirmed in a report Pranowo received on Thursday evening that construction of the Solo-Klaten section will start from Prambanan, he notified local journalists in Semarang, Central Java, Friday.

Pranowo claimed to have no knowledge of when this toll road construction project would be completed though he projected its completion in two years.

Speaking in connection with the Solo-Yogyakarta toll road construction project, which is part of the Trans-Java Highway, Pranowo affirmed that he maintained sound coordination with the Yogyakarta provincial government.

Work on the toll road construction project continues amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Public Works and Housing Ministry has highlighted that the work to construct 15 toll road sections in several Indonesian provinces would be completed this year, with five of them inaugurated in June and July.

"Toll road sections, spanning 297 kilometers, are ready to be inaugurated this year," Director General of Highways at the Public Works and Housing Ministry Trisasongko Widianto noted at a recent videoconference organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN).

The toll road sections ready for inauguration in June and July are Section 4 of Banda Aceh-Indrapuri-Blang Bintang, spanning 14 kilometers; Section 1-6 of Pekanbaru-Kandis-Dumai, reaching 131 km; Section 2 of Depok-Antasari, totaling six km; Section 1A of Cimanggis-Cibitung, spanning three km; and Section 1 and Section 2A of Manado-Bitung, reaching 21 km.

Widianto also drew attention to 12 toll road sections also ready to be auctioned this year.

The total length of those toll road sections reaches 669 kilometers, while their investment expenses were estimated to reach Rp242 trillion. The toll road sections ready to be auctioned include the Gedebage-Tasikmalaya-Cilacap, Access Road of Patimban, Jogja-Bawen, Solo-Yogyakarta-NYIA, and Semarang's Harbour Toll Road.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono has earlier stated that nine other toll road projects were ready for the pre-qualification stage of auction in June and July 2020.

Furthermore, the ministry had formulated a plan to auction a multi-lane free flow (MLEF)-based cashless transaction of the toll road system project for the toll road sector, he remarked, adding that four toll road sections will become operational by June-end to support Indonesia's economic recovery efforts.

Since the first and second leadership terms of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), infrastructure has been the prime focus, with notable extension of toll roads being testament to it.

The Public Works and Housing Ministry noted that during the first leadership term of President Jokowi, at least 941 kilometers of toll roads and 3,423 kilometers of national roads were constructed.

Work on the Trans-Java Highway, connecting the ferry port in Merak, Banten Province, to Surabaya, the capital city of East Java Province, is complete, thereby reducing the travel time and current logistics costs.

As part of the central government's prioritized development projects, the toll roads are not merely constructed in Java, but they are also built outside the island, such as Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi.

In Sumatra Island, several sections of the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road have been completed, while the government is eyeing to complete entire sections in 2024. (ANTARA)