Eastern part of JORR ready next year
Eastern part of JORR ready next year
Wahyuana, Bekasi
For Yanto, going to the office means being trapped in lengthy
congestion every working day. He usually drives the 25 kilometers
from his home in Bintara, Bekasi, to his office on Jl. Rasuna
Said, South Jakarta.
Yanto has to leave home at 6 a.m. so that he can arrive at the
office before 8 a.m. But sometimes he is still late.
His story is similar to that of thousands of other office
employees in Jakarta who live in Bekasi. Chronic traffic
congestion has forced them to set aside more time to reach their
offices. To avoid being late, they have to leave home as early as
possible.
However, this problem has been addressed by toll road operator
PT Jasa Marga in completing its construction of the eastern part
of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR) through the Cikunir toll
gate.
By taking this route, motorists can disperse to their
respective destinations via a number of routes: the inner city,
Pondok Indah, Jagorawi or Cikampek toll roads.
The eastern part of the JORR is expected to be completed in
early 2005.
PT Jasa Marga project officer Sunarto Sastro Wiyoto said
recently that the operator needed only to complete the four-
kilometer section from Hankam Raya to Jati Asih and another four-
kilometer section from Jati Asih to Cikunir.
"We hope to speed up construction so that by February next
year the public can access the toll road," he said, adding that
construction for the two sections of toll road started in
February 2004.
The road will be 29.5 meters wide, with two lanes in each
direction. It is estimated that the toll road will accommodate
around 20,000 vehicles per day.
The Rp 370 billion (US$41.6 million) project, however, still
faces some problems, particularly related to land acquisition.
Eight land owners in Jati Asih, whose total land holding is
8,750 square meters, are refusing to sell their property. They
have refused an offer from PT Jasa Marga based on a survey of
market prices conducted in 1997.
Sunarto said that there was a new agreement on the
acquisition, pending a municipal decree from the Bekasi mayor.
"We hope the problem can be solved by August."
PT Jasa Marga spokesman Zuhdi Saragih said that the project
had been financed by proceeds from the sale of bonds issued by
the company.
The JORR project was planned long ago, in the early 1990s, to
deal with chronic traffic congestion in Jakarta. Once completed,
the road will connect Tangerang, Kebon Jeruk, Ulujami, Pondok
Pinang, Jagorawi, Cikunir, Cakung, Cilincing and Tanjung Priok.
The project was halted due to the monetary crisis that hit the
country in late 1997.
The eastern part of the JORR was previously developed by PT
Marga Nurido Bhakti, previously owned by Djoko Ramiadji and
former president Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti
"Tutut" Rukmana, before being acquired by the now-defunct
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency in 1998. The project was
later handed over to PT Jasa Marga to complete it.