More roads being built on outer islands

JAKARTA (JP): The government has spent some Rp 168 billion (US$77.8 million) to build the roads connecting Jayapura and Wamena, both in the province of Irian Jaya, as a part of the Trans Irian highway network.

Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar said in a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR), yesterday, that the ministry started the construction of the roads in 1990/1991 fiscal year.

Radinal said that the government had also developed the Trans Kalimantan highway on Kalimantan Island, Trans Seram in the Maluku province as well as a road joining Natal and Sibolga in North Sumatra.

The government thought the development of Trans Irian, connecting Sorong and Jayapura, would be a significant boost to the exploitation of natural resources on the island.

Legislator S.G.B. Tampubolon of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), however, told Radinal that the government had not paid enough attention to the construction of new roads in the outer islands.

Citing an example, Tampubolon said that the general level of development of roads in Riau province was much lower than those in Wonogiri district, Central Java.

"Why do we always talk about Wonogiri and other Java-based road development projects? Why not the other islands?" added Tampubolon, who himself is a representative from Pacitan, East Java.

"A province like Riau, which contributes a lot to the central government, deserves more road development than Wonogiri," he said bluntly, referring to Riau's huge oil revenue contribution.

In a related development, he said that the Trans Seram roadway will cost Rp 97 billion, of which some Rp 75 billion had been spent during the fifth Five Year Development.

He added that of 90 kilometer road connecting Jembatan Merah and Natal in North Sumatra, 61 kilometers had been completed, while 70 of the 170 kilometers of road from Natal to Barang Toru had been finished.(09)