Road maintenance budget deplored

TANGERANG (JP): Nearly 1000 kilometers of the total 1,160 kilometers of roads in the Tangerang regency are reportedly in poor condition, with the local public works office only able to repair 50 percent of the damage.

"The data also shows that 80 percent of 928 kilometers of the road is badly damaged," chief of the Tangerang Public Works office Muntiyno said on Wednesday.

"In a bid to fix the roads, we're only surviving with minimum maintenance ... avenues in other part of Tangerang must wait in turn," he said.

The local administration has allocated a Rp 13 billion budget to repair the roads, a figure which Muntiyono said was "not enough".

He said many thoroughfares needed immediate attention. Roads in poor condition included those along the Kresek-Jenggot route and the Balaraja-Kronjo route.

"We need an average of Rp 300 million per kilometer for repairs," he said, adding that the administration would put roads in the southern part of the regency, which connect Jakarta and Tangerang, as its top priority because of the heavy traffic on the routes.

This reason explains why road repairs in many remote areas and the western part of the regency remain neglected.

In the 2000/2001 fiscal year, the administration has proposed a total of Rp 30 billion for road construction works on the North coastal lane, including the 24-kilometer-long Kresek-Kronjo and Kronjo-Mauk routes.

"The road is to be developed to help support economic development and business activities in those areas," Muntiyono said.

He also said that his office must deal with serious flooding problems during the rainy season.

"We are preparing to build a canal to avoid possible flooding," he said without elaborating. (41/edt)