Govt to Build 667 KM Roads, 905 KM Toll Roads Next Year
In addition to boost development of human resources, the Government also continues to develop the infrastructure.
The budget allocation for infrastructure, which in 2014 only amounted to around Rp154.7 trillion, was escalated to Rp256.1 trillion at the beginning of the Working Cabinet in 2015, in the 2019 Bill on the State Budget it is to be boosted to Rp420.5 trillion, President Jokowi said in his address on the Presentation of the Government Statement on the Bill on the State Budget for the 2019 Fiscal Year and Its Financial Note before the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, at Nusantara Building, Jakarta, Thursday (16/8).
This infrastructure development, the President added, strengthens connectivity, connects various economic potentials throughout Indonesia, equates development, generates new economic activities, and improves the distribution of goods and services which end result is the enhancement of the peoples welfare, reduction of poverty and unemployment, and reduction of inequality.
According to President Jokowi, since 2015 to date, the Government has built roads, reconstructed and widened national roads to a length of 12,783 kilometers and built 11 new airports, and from 2016 to 2017 the Government built approximately 369 kilometers of railway lines.
The Government has also provided guarantees for priority energy infrastructure development programs, such as the construction of the first phase of 10,000 MW power plants, digital infrastructures in the form of internet access in non-commercial and broadband areas in villages, guarantees for drinking water supply programs to 11 Regional Drinking Water Companies (Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum/PDAM), and guarantees for cooperation programs between the Government and business entities, the President asserted.
In the meantime, to provide housings for the people, the Government has facilitated the ownership of 781 thousand housing units for low-income people through the provision of revolving funds, interest subsidies, down payment assistance, and tax incentives.
Furthermore, the President stressed that the Government next year will also continue to complete the infrastructure development targets necessary for regional development.
By utilizing the State budget as a catalyst, the Government plans to build 667 kilometers of new national road stretches, 905 kilometers of toll roads, 48 dam units, and 162 thousand hectares of irrigation networks, the President added.
We will make various breakthroughs to accelerate the infrastructure development in the country by using non-state budget financing schemes for infrastructure development, by involving private parties, President Jokowi said, adding that amidst the volatile global situation, the Government will be prudent in maintaining infrastructure financing to minimize its risks and make it sustainable. (DNA/UN/AGG/OJI/GUN/ES) (RAS/EP/Naster)