Sumatran main artery repaired<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
Repair work on Sumatra's East Coast Highway, which connects
\nSumatra with Java, is being carried out by South Sumatra and
\nLampung province in a bid to help develop the two provinces.<\/p>\n
Ishak Mekki, chief of South Sumatra's Public Works Office,
\nsaid the provincial administration had allocated Rp 15 billion in
\nthe 2002 fiscal year to repair the dilapidated highway connecting
\nPalembang, capital of the province, with Jambi in the north and
\nLampung in the south.<\/p>\n
\"The project is under way and is expected to be completed by
\nthe end of the year,\" Antara quoted him as saying in Palembang
\nearly this week.<\/p>\n
The development of the 2,500-kilometer Sumatra East Coast
\nHighway in the 1980s, connecting Bakauheni in Lampung and Banda
\nAceh in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, has opened up numerous
\nregencies in Sumatra and eased land transportation between
\nSumatra and Java.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the highway has almost been cut off
\nbecause of weak law enforcement, which has caused serious damage
\nto the highway over the last three years.<\/p>\n
\"The repair work is urgent. Next year, the provincial
\nadministration will improve the highway, so heavier trucks can
\nuse it. This project will cost Rp 340 billion,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Ishak said the provincial administration was also carrying out
\nrepair work, at a cost of Rp 77 billion, on two highway sections
\nbetween Muara Enim and Lahat and between Muara Enim and Baturaja.<\/p>\n
In Bandarlampung, Lampung provincial administration spokesman
\nIrwan Nurdaya Djafar, said the provincial administration has been
\nallocated Rp 480 billion by the Japan Bank International
\nCooperation (JBIC) and its 2002 budget to repair the badly-
\ndamaged, 200-kilometer highway connecting Bakauheni and
\nTulangbawang.<\/p>\n
\"The highway has to be repaired because of its strategic
\nlocation and its potential to spur Sumatra's economy. Provincial
\neconomic development would be seriously affected if the highway
\nwas cut off, because it acts as an artery road that, besides the
\ncentral coast highway, connects Java with provinces in Sumatra,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
These road projects are being carried out in line with the
\njoint decision, recently made by all the governors of Sumatra in
\nMedan, North Sumatra, to repair the highway.<\/p>\n
The highway has been repaired several times since the 1980s
\nbecause there have been no restrictions on heavy vehicles.<\/p>\n
Jumli Hasan, chief of Lampung's Public Works Office, said all
\nregencies in the province were obliged to financially assist the
\nprojects due to regional autonomy legislation.<\/p>\n
\"Regencies should help fund these road projects because they
\nhave benefited the most from them, through imposing levies on all
\nvehicles, which has helped boost the local economy,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sumatran-main-artery-repaired-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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