Road infrastructure: Connecting the economic veins of Central Sumatra
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia - Infrastruktur jalan: Menyambung urat nadi ekonomi Sumbagteng
26 May 2023
By: M. Noli Hendra & Arif Gunawan
The acceleration of road infrastructure construction in West Sumatra, Riau, and Riau Islands is playing a strategic role in improving economic equality in the three regions. The completion of this programme is believed to strengthen their position as the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) champions of Sumatra.
For example, the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road (JTTS) project in West Sumatra and Riau as well as road projects in Batam and Riau Islands are believed to be the economic veins of Central Sumatra.
The construction of the Padang-Sicincin section of Padang-Pekanbaru toll road, which is part of JTTS, is currently being continued by PT Hutama Karya (Persero).
The company’s data shows that the land acquisition progress has reached 95%, while the construction progress has reached 37.2% or 36.15 kilometres (km). It is set to be completed in 2024.
West Sumatra Development Planning Board (Bappeda) Head Medi Iswandi said that Padang-Pekanbaru toll road was a new economic gate for West Sumatra.
He reckoned that, when the toll road is completed and operating, agriculture products and tourism in the province would grow excellently.
“Until now, West Sumatra have been supplying agriculture products to Riau, such as onions, vegetables, rice, and fruits,” he said on Thursday (25/5).
According to him, the travel time between Padang-Pekanbaru is currently around 9 hours. The toll road will cut the travel time to around 3 hours.
The JTTS project has economically impacted state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that engage in the cement sector, especially PT Semen Padang that is a subsidiary of PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.
SIG Corporate Secretary Vita Mahreyni revealed that, as an SOE that provides construction materials, SIG that has a subsidiary in West Sumatra, PT Semen Padang, welcomed the construction of Padang-Pekanbaru toll road being resumed.
“PT Semen Padang has contributed to the construction several roads, such as Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road, Kelok 9 Bridge in Lima puluh Kota Regency in West Sumatra, and Sigli-banda Aceh segment of JTTS. The involvement of PT Semen Padang in Padang-Pekanbaru toll road will add to the portfolio of SIG in supporting the national development agenda,” she explained.
Meanwhile, for the construction project of Bangkinang-Pangkalan section phase 1 of Pekanbaru-Padang toll road or Bangkinang-Koto Kampar that spans 24.7 km in Riau Province, the physical construction progress has reached 75.56% while the land acquisition progress has reached 94.23%.
Hutama Karya is targeting the toll road to operate at the end of 2023.
An economist from Universitas Riau, Edyanus Herman Halim, sees that benefits from the operation of Pekanbaru-Dumai and Pekanbaru-Bangkinang toll roads can be felt by the people, which will boost regional economic growth.
“With the operation of the toll roads in Riau, there are currently two toll roads that make the flow of goods and services faster and more efficient. Hence, the economy of Riau is increasingly vibrant. The distance between cities, especially to Dumai that has a port, is increasingly closer,” he said.
He sees that the commitment to continuing the construction of JTTS, especially Pekanbaru-Padang and Pekanbaru-Rengat toll roads, will boost the distribution of raw goods from West Sumatra and facilitate distribution towards Jambi.
Furthermore, he added that the tourism sector in both regions would also optimally benefit.
According to him, natural tourism in West Sumatra is often visited by people from Riau, while people from West Sumatra often visit Riau to go shopping at malls.
Hence, he sees that Pekanbaru can look into the potential of the tourism sector by constructing attractions, similar to Johor Malaysia that has a mainstay tourism object in the form of an international family amusement park.
Meanwhile, Riau Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Executive Director Kholis Romli reckoned that toll roads in the region would increase the number of people who wanted to go on vacation in the region. However, the supporting facilities must also be focused on by the regional government. “I received a report from Kadin some time ago that they went on vacation and spent the night in Dumai as it could quickly be accessed through toll roads. From there, they wanted to continue their vacation to Rupat Island, but they needed to spend the night at Roronya Port as there was no ferry due to the limited capacity,” he explained.
With that condition, he affirmed that the regional government should seize the opportunity by organising and adding more supporting facilities for tourists who wanted to go on vacation in Riau Province, such as in Rupat.
He hopes that the support will improve services for tourists, which will boost regional economy and open more job opportunities for the people around tourism objects.
Riau Islands infrastructure
On the other hand, Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority (BP Batam) is continuously accelerating infrastructure construction in the region.
As many as 22 infrastructure projects will be completed at the end of next year as a form of support from BP Batam for the investment destination city.
“From the 22 road infrastructure construction projects in 2023 and 2024, 5 are national priority projects and 17 are BP Batam priority projects,” BP Batam Public Relations, Promotion, and Protocol Bureau Head Ariastuty Sirait said recently.
According to her, there are five national priority projects that will be carried out until 2024, which include the main corridor road construction from Laluan Madani Interchange to Bundaran Punggur Interchange.
Moreover, Riau Islands Provincial Government also received an additional budget of Rp646 billion from the Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Ministry. The funding is planned to be used to construct and handle regional roads in the region.
Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad revealed that equitable development in the region needed support from the central government. He explained that road handling in Riau Islands in 2023 included road maintenance, road improvement, and new road construction in seven regencies/cities, namely Batam, Tanjungpinang, Bintan, Lingga, Karimun, Anambas, and Natuna.
“Road infrastructure is the main condition to accelerate economic growth in the region. As adequate roads can accelerate the cycle of goods, services, and cash,” he said.
