`Swiss system not suitable for city road plan'

`Swiss system not suitable for city road plan'

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar said
yesterday that his ministry would not consider using the Consolid
System for constructing new roads in Jakarta, although the system
offers lower construction costs.

Radinal said yesterday that the new technology is not the most
suitable choice to build roads in Jakarta, as a city with heavy
traffic flow requires conventional road-building methods.

The Consolid System, which is Swiss technology for road
building, was discovered and developed by Dr. Gunther A. Scherr
in 1960s.

With Consolid, developers need not construct a foundation for
the road; by spraying three chemical additives, called Consolid
444, Conservex and Solidry, the newly bulldozed soil becomes as
hard as rock.

According to the minister, the technology may be applicable
for roads in housing estates which have low daily traffic.

"Perhaps it could be applied in some regencies," he said.

Responding to newsmen's questions about whether the ministry
will promote the use of the Consolid System throughout the
country, Radinal said that the ministry will not automatically
accept the technology as its functions, advantages and quality
have yet to be proven.

"Something applicable in other countries is not necessarily
applicable in Indonesia," Radinal said.

Eddie Lembong, the President of PT. Lahan Aspirindo Lestari
(PT. LAL), said that the technology has been applied in Italy,
Liechtenstein, the Philippines, South Africa, Australia, India
and the United States.

PT. Lahan Aspirindo Lestari is the company appointed by
Consolid Asia Pte to be the sole distributor of the new product.

According to Eddie, the system has been used to build roads in
an oil field in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and a transmigration
area in Palembang, South Sumatera.

He also noted that roads built with the Consolid System
require less asphalt than conventional roads because they are not
as vulnerable to friction caused by vehicles' tires.

Eddie said that Consolid System is suitable for areas which do
not have an adequate supplies of rock, sand and cement while the
system is also environmentally sound and cheaper than
conventional methods.

Dwi Putranto, the PT LAL's General Manager, told The Jakarta
Post that for a chemically treated surface thickness of 30 cm,
the construction cost of each kilometer will range from Rp 8,500
(US$3.9) to Rp 9,000 ($4.1), adding that the cost of labor and
equipment were included in that estimate.

He said that construction of a one kilometer road will take
only 20 hours and, with a thickness of 40 cm, the road could be
traversed by a 111 ton weight vehicle.

Dwi was hosting a demonstration of the road construction
process with Consolid System in Lippo Village, Karawaci, West
Java. The demonstration was witnessed by Radinal, Mochtar Riady,
Lippo Group's Chairman and Gunther A. Scherr, Consolid System
founder. (03)