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.