Repairs to Sumatra East Coast Highway to end soon

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

The repair work on several sections of the Sumatra East Coast Highway in Lampung and South Sumatra was expected to be completed soon in anticipation of traffic congestion during the Idul Fitri holidays.

Lampung's road construction department chief Jhonson Napitupulu said in Bandarlampung on Thursday that the construction of a flyover in Natar, South Lampung, and repair work on several sections of the highway in Lampung and South Sumatra were still underway and that the projects were due to be completed during the Ramadhan fasting month.

Based on a survey by the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, the road repairs required major funding out of the routine maintenance budget. "A kilometer costs Rp 1.2 billion to repair. Thus, the 82 kilometers of damaged highway need around Rp 100 billion," he indicated.

The Natar flyover project, costing Rp 20 billion, was started in 1997/98, and was resumed in 2001/2003 after being halted temporarily. It is expected to be completed before the year-end holidays. The contractor will be required to maintain it for one year until November 2003.

The only road that will not be ready for heavy traffic anytime soon is the 15.2 kilometer Bandar Jaya ring road. Motor vehicles, especially heavy trucks, still have to take the mid-Sumatra route "as Bandar Jaya will only be opened in 2003," said Jhonson.

According to Jhonson, his office is also opening alternative roads to reduce the traffic flows on main routes, besides repairing a number of major roads such as the Central Highway and other sections of the East Coast Highway, which will be partly funded by foreign bank loans.

The repair of the Central Highway from Baukaheni to Simpang Empat will be paid for by a loan from the Asian Development Bank, while the repairs of the East Coast Highway from Terbanggi to Bujung Tenuk will be partly funded by a loan from the World Bank.

Road and bridge upgrading is also among Lampung's strategic programs, involving the Central Highway from Bakauheni to the South Sumatra border, the East Trans-Sumatra Highway from Terbanggi Besar to the South Sumatra border, and the Western Highway from Bandarlampung to the Bengkulu border.

Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the 204-kilometer Sumatra East Coast Highway from Bakauheni (South Lampung) to Bengkulu has entered the preparatory stage. To be funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), this project is worth Rp 480 billion.

The 204 kilometers covers the sections from Bakauheni to Ketapang in South Lampung (18.50 kilometers), Ketapang-Way Jepara in East Lampung (69.50 kilometers), Way Jepara-Seputih Banyak in Central Lampung (60 kilometers) and Sputih Banyak-Bujung Tenuk on the Tulangbawang-Bengkulu border (56 kilometers).

East Lampung regent Irfan Nuranda-Djafar said the reconstruction work would also be financed by the regional administrations where the roads were located, including those of South Lampung, East Lampung, Central Lampung and Tulangbawang.

"Provincial and regency administrations contribute fifty percent respectively, derived from the regional budgets for 2001 and 2002. East Lampung spent Rp 1.479 billion through its 2001 regency budget," Irfan said.

A recent survey conducted by The Jakarta Post showed that a reconstruction project was encroaching on hundreds of hectares of land owned by people along the Bakauheni-Tulangbawang route, without any compensation being paid.

Mat Yunus, a villager of Nyampir in East Lampung, said he had only received Rp 20 million for his gasoline kiosk, house and yard. "There's no compensation for the land, but only for the buildings and crops," he said.