Investor Eager to Build Puncak Toll Road, Route Remains Confidential

The development of the Puncak Toll Road for the Caringin-Cisarua section is still being finalised. The Ministry of Public Works revealed that the project initiator is currently assisting the government to optimise the route and basic design of the toll road. Director of Toll Roads at the Ministry of Public Works, Dedy Gunawan, stated that discussions on the Puncak Toll Road project are currently focused on finding the most optimal route. This is because the toll road alignment in the Puncak area is considered quite complex and requires careful planning to prevent construction costs from ballooning. “For Puncak, the Caringin-Cisarua section, the initiator has been assisting us with optimising the route and its basic design,” Dedy said when met at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, on Thursday. Dedy explained that the Puncak Toll Road project is being initiated by a private business entity. However, he did not detail the consortium working on the project. He stated that there is no certainty yet on when the project can proceed to the next stage. Dedy mentioned that the project’s acceleration will depend heavily on the investor’s readiness to complete the basic design and other subsequent stages. “It depends on the investor. If the investor is quick, if the basic design process is quick… after the basic design, there is the environmental impact analysis (Amdal), then the issuance of the right of way (ROW), then the auction, land acquisition, and so on. It depends on the readiness of the business entity,” he explained. Dedy said that the optimal route for the Puncak Toll Road project will likely only be visible by the end of this year. According to him, determining the route is not an easy matter because the alignment conditions require the construction of tunnels and special structures. “Maybe the optimal route will only come out later, because it is very difficult, the route must have tunnels, must have structures, so we have to optimise it so the cost is not high,” Dedy said. When asked if the Puncak Toll Road project could be accelerated next year, Dedy could not confirm. According to him, the project must still go through an auction phase before entering further stages. “It has to be auctioned,” he said. When asked who the business entity behind the project is and whether it is affiliated with a particular conglomerate, Dedy admitted he did not remember the details of the initiating consortium for the Puncak Toll Road. “Oh dear, I don’t memorise it, it’s still a consortium, I don’t memorise the consortium,” he concluded.