Government to let select toll road projects continue: Rozik

JAKARTA (JP): The government will allow half-finished toll road projects to continue amid signs of economic recovery, State Minister of Public Works Rozik Boedioro Soetjipto said.

"We are currently listing all toll road projects that have been put on hold to see whether they can continue. The projects which are half-finished will be given priority to continue," Rozik said on Tuesday during a visit to The Jakarta Post.

He said the government would help project owners search for loans to complete the projects.

But he did not mention when the projects could be continued.

The government has put on hold 40 toll road projects worth Rp 105 trillion (US$35.6 billion) across the country as part of the retrenchment program to cope with the economic crisis, which hit the country in the middle of 1997.

Most of the projects belong to former president Soeharto's family and cronies.

Of the 40 toll road projects, 13 were under construction or in the process of acquiring land, while the remaining 27 were still in the planning stages when the government postponed them in late 1997.

Rozik said one of the toll road projects that would be allowed to continue was the Jakarta Outer Ring Road.

The planned 60 kilometer toll road is designed to link all outlying parts of Jakarta and, as such, will ease traffic jams in the inner part of the city.

Some parts of the ring road were completed but other parts were still under construction or in the preparation stage.

The parts of the ring road which are still under construction are the 11.17 km Pondok Pinang-Kebon Jeruk road project owned by PT Citra Mataram Satya Marga Persada, the 26.25 km Taman Mini Indonesia Indah-Cikunir road project owned by PT Marga Nurindo Bhakti and the Kebon Jeruk-Penjaringan road.

The part of the ring road which is still in the preparation stage is the section linking Cilincing and Tanjung Priok.

Rozik earlier said an estimated Rp 6.5 trillion in investment was needed to complete the projects.

Another toll road project which is still under construction is the Waru-Tanjung Perak toll road project in Surabaya, East Java, owned by PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP) and controlled by Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

Meanwhile, the ministry's secretary, Sunaryo Sumadji, said the government would cut budget allocations for public road projects across the country in the next fiscal year by 50 percent to about Rp 1.5 trillion from Rp 3 trillion at present.

With the lower budget, he said the government would not be able to maintain all existing road networks, let alone build new roads.

"The budget allocation is not sufficient even for the maintenance of all existing road networks," Sunaryo said.

He said prior to the crisis, the government allocated Rp 3 trillion for public road projects per year, about 50 percent of which was used for the maintenance of existing road networks and construction of new roads. (jsk)