Jakarta-Merak toll road not ready for exodus
Jakarta-Merak toll road not ready for exodus
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
With the Idul Fitri travel season fast approaching, toll road
operator PT Marga Mandala Sakti has yet to finish repair work on
the Jakarta-Merak toll road, sections of which are badly damaged.
The head of the Banten provincial transportation agency,
Turmudji, said on Tuesday he sent a letter to the toll road
operator asking that the repairs be completed before the Idul
Fitri exodus.
The exodus is expected to peak a week before and after the
Idul Fitri holiday, which falls on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26. The
Ministry of Communications earlier predicted a 10 percent
increase in the number of Idul Fitri travelers nationwide, from
17.1 million last year to 18.8 million this year.
"The holidaymakers usually leave town a week before Idul
Fitri, so the toll road operator has less than two weeks to
finish the repairs" said Turmudji, who is also the executive
coordinator for transportation management on the western part the
Java island.
A employee of PT Marga Mandala Sakti, Erwin Guminda, said the
company was working to repair some badly damaged sections of the
toll road.
"We are focusing the repairs on kilometers 71 and 74 from East
Serang heading to Jakarta," he said. "Several parts of the toll
road from Cikupa through Balaraja are also in poor condition and
in need of immediate repair."
He believed the toll road operator would complete the work in
time for Idul Fitri.
There are 98 kilometers of toll road running through Banten
province. PT Marga Mandala Sakti maintains the 72 kilometers of
toll road from Bitung to Merak, while toll road operator PT Jasa
Marga manages the 26 kilometers from Kebon Jeruk to Bitung.
Separately, Sihudu Aro Dachi, head of the Tangerang-Serang-
Merak non-toll road repair project, said the 103 kilometers of
regular roads linking Jakarta to Merak could be used as an
alternative to the toll road.
"The condition of the non-toll roads are still good since we
just repaired them in January this year.
"In anticipation of the exodus, we also installed safety rails
at several dangerous points in the road," he said.