Minister Affirms Commitment to Transport Safety and Connectivity

Minister of Transport Dudy Purwagandhi has affirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening national transport safety and connectivity through priority programmes for 2027. The initiatives are supported by a proposed additional budget to enhance public services and promote equitable development. Dudy stated that the Ministry of Transport’s work plan and budget for 2027 are directed at improving transport safety, strengthening public services, maintaining national connectivity, and supporting economic growth and equitable development in line with national priorities. “All programmes and activities we have designed for next year are directed at improving transport safety, maintaining national connectivity, and strengthening public services,” he said in a statement in Jakarta on Saturday. Dudy noted that the Ministry had submitted its 2027 Work Plan and Budget to Commission V of the House of Representatives, which subsequently approved an indicative budget ceiling of Rp28.34 trillion. Based on a joint letter from the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Development Planning/Bappenas, the indicative ceiling for 2027 is Rp28.34 trillion, while the indicative funding for the strategic plan for 2027 is Rp46.21 trillion. This results in a gap of Rp17.87 trillion, or 38.67 percent. Compared to the Ministry’s required budget ceiling of Rp55.16 trillion, the gap widens to Rp26.82 trillion, or 48.62 percent. Dudy explained that this condition indicates several priority programmes, particularly in safety, basic services, and regional connectivity, require additional budget support. “This is crucial so that national transport development targets can be achieved optimally,” he said. The Minister detailed priority programmes for each directorate general. The Directorate General of Land Transport will focus on accelerating the handling of over-dimension and over-loading vehicles, improving road safety, addressing accident-prone locations, and operating pioneer transport services. The Directorate General of Sea Transport will support maritime safety and security, pioneer sea transport services, and maritime connectivity infrastructure. The Directorate General of Air Transport will focus on fulfilling aviation safety and security facilities, oversight and control of security and safety, and pioneer air transport services. The Directorate General of Railways will handle railway infrastructure operations and maintenance, infrastructure development and level crossing management, as well as pioneer train services and free motorcycle transport. The Human Resources Development Agency will organise vocational transport education, provide training facilities and infrastructure, and adjust integrated training institutions. The Directorate General of Transport Integration and Multimoda will plan intermodal transport integration infrastructure in several regions, plan integration services in underdeveloped, frontier, outermost, and border areas and Papua, and develop intermodal and multimodal information systems. The Transport Policy Agency will provide safety policy recommendations for the transport sector, logistics transport and Mass Public Transport System policies, and support policies for the 2027 Eid and 2028 Christmas and New Year transport periods. The Secretariat General will handle transport accident investigation services, review and evaluation of the Ministry’s strategic plan, strengthening of data centre infrastructure, and development of the Transport Intelligence Centre. The Inspectorate General will focus on synergy of supervision based on strategic targets, evaluation of integrity zone development, review of goods and services procurement, management of non-tax state revenue, and licensing of Multi-Agent Artificial Intelligence for Early Warning Systems and Digital Analytics. The Minister stated that from the indicative ceiling of Rp28.34 trillion, several national transport operational needs remain unmet, requiring additional budget. The additional needs include Rp7.98 trillion for transport safety support across land, sea, air, and railway sectors; Rp9.17 trillion for service support to fulfil national priorities, tariff stimulus, and other operational tasks; Rp957 billion for pioneer services in underdeveloped, frontier, outermost, and border regions; and Rp2.00 trillion for personnel expenditure. The Ministry is proposing a total additional budget of Rp20.11 trillion to ensure the fulfilment of safety aspects, public services, regional connectivity, and the Ministry’s operational sustainability.