Repairs to Sumatra East Coast Highway to end soon

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.