South Korea to carry out road study in Bali

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and South Korea will soon sign an agreement for a one-year feasibility study on the road network improvement in Bali, the Korean embassy says.

The agreement, to be signed by Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar and Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Kyung-Chul Kim, will allow the Koreans to perform engineering studies on the newly constructed 15-kilometer outer ring road from Mengwitani to Batuan in Denpasar and another 20-kilometer road linking Kuta and Tanah Lot.

"The study will also cover the betterment of the existing road of 177 kilometers linking Cekik, Singaraja and Amlapura, in addition to a 129-kilometer road section from Denpasar to Gilimanuk," the embassy said.

Bong-Hyup Chung, information attache of the embassy, said yesterday, that the items to be included in the project are a socio-economic analysis, field survey, traffic and transport network analysis, preliminary design and environmental impact.

The project, which will be financed by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (Koica), will cost around US$720,000, he said.

Start

The project, which is planned to start this month, is expected to encourage tourism on what is already the overwhelming favorite destination among travelers.

"However, its existing infrastructure especially the road networks is still inadequate to cope with the increasing traffic demand," he said.

Chung said the Korean government has thus far granted a total of $5.8 million to 10 projects in Indonesia since 1984. They include, among other things, feasibility studies or detailed engineering designs for the Pemali river flood control, the Bukittinggi by-pass road, the by-pass road in Padang, the by-pass road in Manado, road development for tourists in Toba lake, a steam power plant in northern Sumatra and swamp development in South Kalimantan.

"The Korean government financed the $14 million construction of the Padang by-pass road under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund," he said, adding that the work of the project was completed in October last year.

The fund is also currently financing a $25 million mobile training course for Indonesia's technicians and operators. (fhp)