Kalimantan governors okay infrastructure plan
Kalimantan governors okay infrastructure plan
Edy Petebang, The Jakarta Post, Pontianak
Four Kalimantan governors have agreed to begin the Trans-
Kalimantan highway project as part of an integrated
infrastructure development program that was officially endorsed
at the end of their two-day meeting in Pontianak on Thursday.
Minister for the Acceleration of Eastern Indonesian
Development Manuel Kaisiepo was a witness during the signing
ceremony.
West Kalimantan was represented by governor Aspar Aswin, South
Kalimantan by governor Syachriel Darham, while Central and East
Kalimantan were represented by deputy governors Nahson Taway and
Yurnalis Ngayoh respectively.
Another agreement that was endorsed by the governors is an
island-wide infrastructure/social plan which will include,
preparations for the construction of a railway network, the
completion of an inter-province electricity program, human
resource development, settling problems relating to borders with
neighboring countries, handling of refugees and development of an
integrated information system.
The ambitious highway project actually began some years ago in
South Kalimantan. The project, however was halted due to a
variety of complications, mostly financial.
The highway will consist of southern, central and northern
routes, and according to construction plans, the first stage of
the project will be the southern and central routes.
The southern highway in West Kalimantan will cover a distance
of 633 kilometers with 16 bridges, the central highway in Central
Kalimantan will be 837 kilometers long with 496 bridges, while
the remaining routes will cover a distance of 864 kilometers with
459 bridges in South Kalimantan.
The central highway, in West Kalimantan, will cover 486
kilometers with 61 bridges, 727 kilometers with 486 bridges in
Central Kalimantan, and another 393 kilometers in East
Kalimantan.
The northern route, which will cover more than 1,080
kilometers, will go through West Kalimantan, starting from the
Sambas regency and into the district of Bungan on the border of
West and East Kalimantan.
"We have started with the 934 kilometer stretch of unsurfaced
road with very few bridges in South Kalimantan," South Kalimantan
governor Syachriel Darham said, adding that the project started
some years ago.
He also said that the citizens of Kalimantan had been eagerly
awaiting the completion of the highway for economic and
communication reasons.
Minister Kaisiepo said that the governors must enact concrete
and sustainable programs for integrated development based on
realistic priorities.
"If the trans-Kalimantan highway is considered very important,
then the governors, the people, the provincial legislatures and
members of the House of Representatives and the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) who hail from Kalimantan must put the
project as a top priority," Kaisiepo said.
In response to the railway network plan, director of the
state-owned railway company (PT KAI) Mardio Wibowo, who also
attended the meeting, said that the province of Kalimantan needed
a total of 3,300 kilometers of railroad tracks.
"The total cost of the project will be at least Rp 56.1
trillion. And the construction project will take at least 30
years," he said, adding that his office had completed the
feasibility study for the project long ago.