The tollgate for the Section 1 of the Palembang-Indralaya toll road is seen in Palembang, South Sumatera, Thursday (12/10). The 7.75-kilometer Section 1, which was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on Thursday, is one of three newly completed sections of the toll road that stretches 21.93 kilometers from Palembang to Indralaya in Ogan Ilir regency.
MEDAN, KOMPAS – The 41.5-kilometer Medan-Sei Rampah toll road and the 10.4-kilometer Medan-Binjai toll road, which will be officially opened by President Joko Widodo on Friday (13/10), are expected to spur the Sumateran economy, particularly North Sumatera’s economy.
Once these toll roads are connected to the Belawan-Medan-Tanjung Morawa toll road, it will link the three cities of Medan, Binjai and Tebing Tinggi, as well as the Deli Serdang and Serdang Bedagai regencies and Belawan Port.
The travel time from Medan to Sei Rampah, which was formerly 2-3 hours because of a narrow, packed and accident-prone road, now requires only 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, a trip fromMedan to Binjai, which usually took2 hours because of roadside markets and trade zones such as Lalang village, can now be made in a shorter time.
“This makes North Sumatera’s position and infrastructure more competitive than it was the previous year,” said Laksmana Adyaksa, secretary of the North Sumatera Indonesian Employers Association.
The executive secretary of the North Sumatera Rubber Entrepreneurs Association, Eddy Irwansyah, said that exports of North Sumatera’s plantation products, particularly rubber and palm oil that are the backbone of the province’s economy, had been much aided by the new toll roads. The new roads not only provided quicker access to the port and lowered logistics costs, but they also ensured safer logistics while shortening the tourist access to Lake Toba.
33-year wait
The people of North Sumatera have waited 33 years for the new toll roads since the Belawan-Medan-Tanjung Morawa (Belmera) toll road opened in 1984. The head of the North Sumatera-Riau Area II National Road Implementation Center, Paul Ames Halomoan Siahaan, said the Medan-Sei Rampah segment was part of the 61.6-km Medan-Tebing Tinggi toll road. The new toll road segment does not yet include a feeder or access to a freeway, which would increase its length to 7.2 km.
The Binjai-Medan toll road is divided into three sections totaling 16.73 km. Sections 2 and 3 will be inaugurated on Friday, while the Belmera entry gate on the 5-km section 1 connecting Helvetia and Tanjung Mulia has not been completed because of land issues. Once the three are connected, the Binjai-Medan toll road would stretch 112 km.
Maintaining spirits
Meanwhile, the 7.75-km section 1 of the Palembang-Simprang Indralaya (Palindra) toll road was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on Thursday (12/10). Palindra’s section 1 connects Palembang and Pamulutan. The Palindra toll road is 21.93 km, and is part of the 2,704-km Trans-Sumatera toll road.
At yesterday’s inauguration, the President walked around the tollgates despite the drizzling rain. Accompanying the President were Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, South Sumatera Governor Alex Noerdin and PT Karya Hutama president director I Gusti Ngurah Putra.
After inaugurating Palindra’s section 1, the President said the toll road would ease the mobility of goods and services, thereby lowering the price of goods so that Indonesian products could be more competitive.
Of the 1,850 km of toll road segments that are to be constructed by 2019, 580 km have been completed. “In fact, some toll road sections in a number of provinces are ready to be inaugurated,” said the President. As for Aceh, he added, toll road projects there would commence in early 2018.
The President’s latest monitoring visit to the Palembang-Indralaya toll road project is his fourth. Building the toll road has been difficult and required a special method of construction, because it is built on top of a swamp.
“The expenditure is 1.5 times higher than [building on] normal land,” said the President.
