VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Manado-Bitung toll road exit. ANTARA/Karel A Polakitan/am.

The Public Works and Housing Ministry, Wednesday, 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 in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The 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.

During a videoconference organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), 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 chalked out 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 stated, adding that four toll road sections were ready to be operated by the end of June to support Indonesia's economic recovery efforts.

Since the first and second leadership terms of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), infrastructure has held special significance, with the remarkable extension of toll roads being testament to it.

According to the Public Works and Housing Ministry, 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 that connects 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.

The work on the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road Construction project is still underway. State-owned construction companies involved in the project have striven ceaselessly to ensure it is completed in line with the set target. (ANTARA)