Stone bar on tollroad to be pulled down

CIREBON, West Java: Cirebon police would remove by force a 20- metre stone bar obstruction planted by locals opposed to the Tegalkarang-Plumbon tollroad, a local police official says.

Sr. Comr. Sardjono, chief of the Cirebon Police Precinct, said police and staff of state-owned PT Jasa Marga would be deployed to remove the stone bar that had hindered completion of the toll road project.

"Of the most importance is that the stone bar must be removed by force today," he said here on Saturday.

Locals planted the stone bar to protest Jasa Marga's appropriation of 900-square meters of land for the project.

Sardjono said the removal of the stone bar would allow the company to complete the project so that the tollroad could be used by travelers before and after Idul Fitri.

"The 20-meter stone bar must be pulled down to allow the toll road to function as an alternative route to ease the traffic during the exodus for the Muslim post-fasting festivity," he said. --Antara