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.