Dirjen Bina Marga Inspects Jalinsum to Ensure Accelerated Road Handling

The Director General (Dirjen) of Road Infrastructure at the Ministry of Public Works (PU), Roy Rizali Anwar, inspected the Trans-Sumatra Highway (Jalinsum) corridor from Lubuk Linggau to the Jambi provincial border on Friday (8/5/2026). This step was taken as a government response to ensure the acceleration of road handling following a traffic accident that occurred on the Maur-Terawas section on Wednesday (6/5/2026). During the inspection, Roy also conveyed condolences to the accident victims. He emphasised the importance of inter-agency supervision synergy to prevent similar incidents. Regarding the exact cause of the accident, Roy stated that his side is still awaiting the official investigation results from the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub), and the police. The Maur-Terawas section, the site of the accident, is part of the Jalinsum spanning 35.98 kilometres (km) with an average width of 5.6 metres. Overall, the corridor from Lubuk Linggau to the Jambi border has a total length of 98 km with a national road stability level of 91 per cent. The Director of Road and Bridge Preservation for Region I at the Dirjen Bina Marga, Hendro Satrio, stated that the South Sumatra (Sumsel) Major Executive Office for National Roads (BBPJN) has intensively preserved that section during the 2026 Eid al-Fitr homecoming and return flows. “We have already examined the condition along this road section. We see that there are indeed some potholes at the location, but they are small and not deep. However, they still require immediate attention for handling and repair,” explained Hendro. He assessed that the accelerated handling carried out by the Sumsel BBPJN using rubber asphalt material and cold paving hot mix asbuton (CPHMA) has followed the Dirjen Bina Marga’s directives. “Insyaallah, in the next few days, we will patch all the potholes,” asserted Hendro. The Dirjen Bina Marga is committed to continuing to accelerate the handling of the Jalinsum corridor from Lubuk Linggau to the Jambi border in order to maintain the quality of national road services and support the comfort of road users.