TRANS-JAVA TOLL ROAD READY FOR 2018 YEAR-END TRAVELERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 8 (Antara) - Several sections of the 1,150-kilometer Trans-Java Toll Road to connect Merak Port in the western tip of Java with Banyuwangi in the eastern part of the island are still under construction.          Yet, parts of the Trans-Java turnpikes that stretch 870 kilometers (km) from Merak to the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya will be readied by the end of this year to serve Christmas and New Year 2019 travelers. The remaining 280 km sections will be completed by the end of 2019.           Hence, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono will ensure the readiness of the Trans-Java Toll Road to be used during the upcoming 2018 Christmas and 2019 New Year holidays.          Minister Hadimuljono noted in a written statement on Thursday (Dec 6) that he will review the readiness of the Trans-Java toll road, especially the four sections, measuring a total length of 180 km, that will be inaugurated by President Joko Widodo in December 2018.          The four toll roads are Pemalang-Batang Toll Road, measuring 33 km; Batang-Semarang, spanning 75 km; Salatiga-Solo, reaching 33 km; and Wilangan-Kertosono, stretching 39 km.

TRANS-JAVA TOLL ROAD BOOSTS NATION'S ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 19 (Antara) - The Trans-Java Toll Road, which links Merak port in the western tip of Java with Banyuwangi in the eastern part of the island, is expected to improve connectivity and provide multiple effects on the economy.          Though the government has set the target to complete the construction of the 1,150-kilometer toll road by the end of 2019, yet the Merak-Surabaya section, stretching 870 kilometers, would have been completed by the end of this year.          According to the President Director of state-owned toll road construction firm Waskita Kraya, I Gusti Ngurah Putra, the Trans-Java toll road could have double effects on national economic activities.          "Toll roads will operate and generate economic growth throughout or around the toll roads," Putra stated at the Waskita Karya office in Jakarta on Thursday (Nov 15).          By using the Trans-Java toll road with sections having been connected from end to another, the route from Jakarta to Surabaya can now be covered in about 10 hours. Thus, goods sent from East Java to Jakarta or otherwise, for example, will also arrive at the destinations in fresh conditions.

GOVERNMENT SET TO COMPLETE TOLL ROADS OF 1,854.6 KILOMETERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 27 (Antara) - The government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is determined to connect sections of toll roads of 1,854.6 kilometers across the country by the end of 2019.          "The target is to make the toll roads of 1,854.6 kilometers operational by the end of 2019," Head of Toll Road Regulatory Agency (BJPT) Herry Trisaputra Zuna stated at the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) in Jakarta on Friday (Nov 24).          In 2018, the government is targeting to accomplish an additional 766.3 kilometers of new toll road sections throughout all the the country. Thus, by the end of 2018, the length of toll roads, which would be operational, will reach about 1,321.5 kilometers.          In the meantime, in 2019, new toll roads of 533.1 kilometers are expected, so that the total length of toll roads operating in the country by the end of Jokowi's administration in 2019 will reach 1,854.6 kilometers.          The toll road segment now being developed is the Solo-Ngawi segment, Ngawi-Kertosono, Ciawi-Sukabumi, in Java Island, and a number of toll road projects in Sumatra, such as in Lampung.