Jakarta, June 3 (Antara) - Construction of the 4,330-kilometer (km) Trans-Papua Highway in Indonesia's easternmost and mineral-rich provinces of Papua and West Papua will offer greater connectivity and is expected to boost economic activities in the the regions.
The Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry has completed the construction of about 3,850 km of the targeted 4,330 km Trans-Papua Highway that is expected to be completed by the end of the term of the current government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in 2019.
"The 570-km Sorong-Manokwari segment in West Papua has relatively been connected. There is only a 12-km section at the border of West Papua and Papua that remains to be constructed. We have sent three teams, and this section must be completed this year," PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono stated in Jakarta recently.
The ongoing construction of the roads was inspected by Jokowi late last month. He rode a Trail motorcycle to inspect some seven kilometers of the section on Wednesday, May 10.
"If you ride the Trail motorcycle, the difficulty is obvious. Try to imagine those who carry out the construction work. We are trying to see it on the field," Jokowi noted after observing the project in Wamena, Papua.
On the last day of his work visit to Papua, Jokowi and his entourage, Defense Forces (TNI) Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo, PUPR Minister Hadimuljono, and TNI Chief of Staff General Mulyono directly reviewed the construction of the some 4,300-km-long highway.
The PUPR ministry is carrying out the road construction work and various other forms of labor-intensive projects involving local businesses and people. One of the labor-intensive projects to have been successfully completed is the acceleration of an irrigation water use project in West Papua and Papua.
"There are priority projects. There are also labor-intensive projects. We involved the local businesses to carry out the labor-intensive ones. Projects worth lower than Rp50 billion may not be handled by large companies," the minister added.
During the inspection of the Trans-Papua highway project, President Jokowi produced his own video blog (Vlog) snapshot riding a Trail motorcycle. He followed parts of the trans-highway on the motorcycle.
"We are here on the 287-km-long Wamena-Kenyam-Agat segment. The Trans-Papua Road reflects the commitment of the government to developing infrastructure," Jokowi remarked in the Vlog, which was uploaded on YouTube on Wednesday, May 24.
The video, lasting two minutes and 48 seconds, shows the president wearing a green brown jacket and a half-face, green-shaded white helmet.
The Trans-Papua Red and White Flag Army engineer badges were attached to the right and left arms of the jacket worn by the president who rode a Trail motorcycle along seven km of the Trans-Papua Road.
The motorcycle that the head of state rode was black in color and bore the number plate RI1. To counter the steep terrain, a "hoe tire" was installed to ensure greater grip while riding on the road, most of which was sandy.
"It is extremely difficult. The terrain here is very rugged, splitting the wilderness, going up a very high mountain," the president revealed.
In the Vlog video, Jakowi lauded the PUPR ministry and the military that are working hand-in-hand to construct the Trans-Papua Highway having geographical conditions that pose major challenges.
The scenery of shrubs and highland vegetation adorns several snippets in the Vlog activity. Clumps of fog and clouds are also seen afloat in areas that have an altitude of about three thousand meters above sea level.
The Vlog described the construction of the Trans-Papua Highway that splits mountains and forests and crosses a river.
Apart from meeting the infrastructure requirement, the construction of the highway also provides employment opportunities to the people of Papua as well as justice and economic equity in the country.
A total of 3,800 km of roads have been successfully opened to the public by the TNI, and it is expected that by 2019, all road sections will be open and accessible. With easy access, it is expected that the prices of goods and commodities in Papua will come down and lead to the development of new economic centers along the Trans-Papua Highway for the welfare of the people in the region.
Apart from the construction of the Trans-Papua Road project, the provinces of Papua and West Papua will also be linked through an integrated rail network.
In West Papua, the government has planned to develop a railway network, comprising three ground planning sections of Sorong-Manokwari, Manokwari-Teluk Bintuni, and Teluk Bintuni-Ayamaru, which are expected to be completed by 2019.
The railway projects link the six districts of Sorong, South Sorong, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, South Manokwari, and Manokwari. It will start from Sorong to Manokwari. The length of this section is some 390 km.
The trains to be operated in West Papua Province are expected to run at a speed of 250 km per hour, higher than the average train speed in Java and Sumatra. In Java, the average speed of trains is some 100 to 120 km per hour. The railway network is designed to have greater structural strength in terms of the transport load factor.
The railway development strategies in West Papua are mainly aimed at expanding the network, enhancing security and safety, developing human resources and technology, and boosting investment.
The West Papua rail network will link the railway tracks in Papua. The Transportation Ministry intends to develop an integrated transportation network in the two provinces.
This aims to ensure greater connectivity between the provinces and other regions in Indonesia through the development of six airports and several seaports as sea toll linkages in the two provinces.***3***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 03-06-2017 21:00: |
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