Road infrastructure: Regions accelerate repairs
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: Daerah akselerasi perbaikan
10 May 2023
By: M. Mutawallie Syarawie
Balikpapan - Some regions are taking swift actions to repair several road segments to support economic activities in their respective areas. The regional budget (APBD) has also been prepared to improve road quality in the regions.
The East Kalimantan Provincial Government, for example, has prepared a budget of up to Rp840 billion to build provincial roads this year. The Head of the Highways Division of the East Kalimantan Public Works, Spatial Planning, and Public Housing (PUPR-Pera) Agency, Hariadi Purwatmoko, stated that the reconstruction of provincial road segments was targeted to reach 67 kilometres (km) in 2023.
Some of the roads are Simpang Patung Lembuswana -Sebulu segment in Kutai Kartanegara Regency as well as Simpang 4 Kaliorang-Talisayan and Tanjung Redeb-Talisayan that are both in Berau Regency.
“The target is to increase the robustness of provincial roads from 77.5% at the end of 2022 to around 82% at the end of 2023,” he stated on Tuesday (9/5).
He said that the budget allocation for road reconstruction in 2023 and the entire work package are already underway, where the procurement is carried out using the e-catalogue.
Meanwhile, the Head of the East Kalimantan PUPR Agency, M Aji Fitra Firnanda, added that this road project would be completed according to the predetermined schedule.
“So, insyallah [God willing], it will be completed 100% from Patung Lembuswana to Sebulu, certainly there will be no bumps anymore. It will be completed by 2023 to Sebulu, according to the Provincial Road Decree,” he explained.
He considers this road construction will greatly benefit the local community, especially for those who work as farmers, plantation workers, and animal breeders. It is also part of the regional government’s efforts to provide the best facilities to the community.
At a different location, the Balikpapan City Public Works Agency (DPU) on Tuesday (9/5) announced the implementation of three infrastructure projects on MT Haryono road this year.
The projects include constructing a drainage canal in front of Living Plaza, widening MT Haryono road from Andi Jaya Motor building to Hotel Sejati, and widening the road in front of the PDAM office.
Balikpapan City Regional Secretary, Muhaimin, revealed that his party has gathered contractors and supervisory consultants to align perceptions for smooth development in Balikpapan.
The Mayor of Balikpapan, Muhaimin continued, gave the directive that the project work should not disturb the convenience of road users.
“We hope that [the work] on MT Haryono road can run according to the target,” he explained.
Balikpapan City DPU Head, Rita, added that the total budget for the three projects reached Rp27 billion, which came from Balikpapan City’s APBD.
The budget for the drainage project in front of Living Plaza is Rp19 billion, while the road widening projects in front of Hotel Sejati and PDAM each has a budget of Rp4 billion.
Meanwhile, in North Kalimantan Province, road construction spanning 3.5 kilometres has been completed in the Gunung Seriang-Long Peso area, Bulungan Regency, with a budget of up to Rp16 billion to improve accessibility and the local economy.
The Head of the North Kalimantan Public Works, Spatial Planning, Housing, and Settlement Agency (DPUPR-Perkim) Helmi announced plans to continue the reconstruction of Gunung Seriang-Long Peso Road segment.
This project is scheduled to run for 240 calendar days with a budget of around Rp37 billion, targeting 6.3 km of work.
Not only the East Kalimantan Provincial Government and the North Kalimantan Provincial Government, the West Java Provincial Government has also resumed repairs on provincial roads after it was stopped during the Eid holiday.
The Head of the West Java Highways and Spatial Planning (BMPR) Agency Bambang Tirtoyuliono said that the road repair work is carried out in 6 regional technical implementation units (ULTD).
The work takes place in Depok, Bogor, Bekasi, Bandung, Garut, Sumedang, Ciamis, Kuningan, Tasikmalaya, Majalengka, Indramayu, and Cirebon.
According to him, the 18 construction projects spanning 34.25 km are part of the overall construction in 2023, with a total of 69 road construction packages spanning 351.896 km and 2 road support packages spanning approximately 4 km.
Beyond that, this year work will be carried out for three bridge construction packages in Talegong Garut, Transyogi Bogor, and Sodong Kopo Pangandaran.
In addition, there are also 41 rehabilitation packages for roads and 4 rehabilitation packages for bridges affected by disasters.
“The West Java Provincial Government has authority over 2,362.18 km of roads and 1,295 bridges. We also have a smooth road program in 2023 that ensures West Java roads are free from potholes and are grey and black in colour,” he said on Tuesday (9/5).
The Head of Maintenance and Development Division of the West Java BMPR Agency Iwan Suwanagiri said that, since ten days after Eid, work has resumed on overlays for provincial roads after the potholes have been successfully patched.
“The periodic maintenance on 354 kilometres [of roads] is targeted to be completed by July 2023. Currently, 130 kilometres have been covered,” he said recently.
According to him, in 2023 there will be 69 road construction packages on 71 provincial road segments in the form of periodic repairs or overlaying.
In terms of repairs, 24 packages have been completed by 100% with a length of 50 km. Meanwhile, 45 packages of pothole patching have been completed. The rest will be completed after Eid until July 2023 at the latest.
Iwan also confirmed that several alternative roads were also repaired. Alternative roads belonging to the province that are usually traversed by homecoming season travellers are located from the east to the north of West Java.
Inspection
In other developments, the South Sumatra Provincial Government explained that the damaged and muddy road in Rambang Kuang District, Ogan Ilir Regency is still under inspection.
The Governor of South Sumatra, Herman Deru, said that his agency would review and confirm the status of the road first.
This is because the damaged road, which has recently gone viral on social media and has been complained by the public, is called the ex-Pertamina road.
“So, we must find out whether it has been given to the regional government. If it is under the regional government, of course we [the Provincial Government] will back it up if the funds are not sufficient,” he said on Tuesday (9/5).
He explained that, for regency and city roads, his agency has allocated a budget through special governor assistance (Bangubsus), which amounted to trillions.
However, he added, roads have several criteria, namely national roads, provincial roads, regency and city roads, non-status roads, and special roads.
Furthermore, in the South Sumatra region, there is another road criteria, namely ex-transmigration roads built by the Transmigration Ministry, such as unit-to-unit, unit-to-block, block-to-block, and block-to-settlement unit roads.
“We are proposing this road to the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) with a total of 4,000 km, so the road will not be a non-status road and there will be no throwing of responsibilities at each other,” he explained.
Thus, he added, for every damaged road in an area, the status must be considered first.
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