Jasa Marga resumes toll road project
Jasa Marga resumes toll road project
Johannes Simbolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga resumed on
Wednesday construction of the toll road linking the West Java
towns of Cikampek and Padalarang, which will significantly cut
the travel time from Jakarta to the provincial capital, Bandung.
The company will invest Rp 1.5 trillion (about US$145 million)
in the construction of the 55-kilometer-long road.
Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno
said the project marked the revival of the country's construction
sector, which has been in the doldrums for several years due to
the economic crisis.
"This project will also revive the real sector and create a
lot of job opportunities," the minister was quoted by Antara as
saying during the ceremony to launch the project in the West Java
town of Kerawang.
By using the toll road, motorists will take only two hours
from Jakarta to Bandung, as against 3.5 hours at present.
He said the project would be followed by the resumption of six
other toll projects across Java, that is the Jakarta Outer Ring
Road (JORR) in Jakarta; the Surabaya-Mojokerto toll road in East
Java, the Aloha-Waru-Tanjung Perak toll road in East Java, the
Waru-Juanda toll road in East Java, the Semarang-Solo toll road
in Central Java and the Ciawi-Sukabumi toll road in West Java.
The government postponed all the toll road projects in
September 1997 as part of the belt-tightening effort to cope with
the economic crisis.
Jasa Marga will build the Semarang-Solo and Surabaya-Mojokerto
toll roads in cooperation with the local governments, the
minister said.
The Cikampek-Padalarang project was initially built by PT
Citra Ganesha Marga Nusaphala in 1996, but it was forced to
postpone the project by the government a year later.
Jasa Marga subsequently took over the project following the
inability of the company to carry it out.
Jasa Marga's president Syarifuddin Alambai said the Cikampek-
Padalarang toll road would be built in two phases.
The first phase will cover the development of the toll road
linking Cikampek and Dangdeur and the Padalarang bypass, which
both measure 16 kilometer long. This will be followed by the
construction of the 39-kilometer-long toll road linking
Purawakarta and the Padalarang bypass.
Construction of the first phase will be carried out by
construction companies Istaka Karya, PT Hutama Karya, and PT
Pembangunan Perumahan, with Cipta Strada, PT Virama Karya and PT
Bina Karya as consultants and supervisors.
Jasa Marga has yet to tender the development of the second
phase.
"We are convinced that many investors will be interested in
developing the second phase of the project. Thus far, the
Australian firm Theiss has expressed an interest," Syarifuddin
said.
According to Syarifuddin, Jasa Marga would issue bonds worth
Rp 800 billion to Rp 2 trillion to raise funds for the projects.
"Apart from the Cikampek and Padalarang toll project, the
funds will be used to finance the JORR toll project," he
explained.