Gov’t to Operate Sections of Toll Roads in Aceh, Manado to Support National Economic Recovery
Manado – Bitung Toll Road located in North Sulawesi. (Photo by: Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing).
In a bid to facilitate the smooth distribution of goods in order to support national economic recovery during COVID-19 pandemic, the Government through Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing continues the development of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, toll roads, and national roads.
Two new toll road sections will be fully operational soon, namely Banda Aceh – Sigli Section IV that connects Indrapuri and Blang Bintang spanning 14 kilometers and Manado – Bitung (Mabit) Section I that connects Manado and Airmadidi spanning 14 kilometers. The operation of the two toll roads which are part of National Strategic Projects has received approval from Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono.
The Minister asserted that the toll roads connecting productive regions will lower logistic costs and increase competitiveness of local products that will eventually stimulate economic growth in the region and create new centers of economy.
For the record, the Banda Aceh – Sigli toll road stretching for 74 kilometers, is the first-ever toll road in Aceh which construction started in 2018 by state-owned construction firm Hutama Karya. The total investment value of the toll road that has a total of six road sections is estimated at Rp12.35 trillion, with a construction cost of Rp8.99 trillion.
This toll road is expected to cut travel time from Banda Aceh to Sigli to one hour from the previous two to three hours.
In addition, the completion of Banda Aceh – Sigli Section IV will increase connectivity from Banda Aceh to Sigli and from Indrapuri to Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Blang Bintang, Aceh Besar Regency.
Meanwhile, the Manado – Bitung toll road consists of two sections. The first section, namely Manado – Sukur – Airmadidi Ring Road spanning 21 kilometers, is set to be built by the Government with a total budget of Rp3 trillion, while the second section that connects Airmadidi and Bitung spanning 25 kilometers is constructed using government-to-business cooperation (KPBU) scheme with PT Jasa Marga Manado Bitung with a total investment of Rp6.19 trillion.
Segment 2A that connects Airmadidi and Danowudu spanning 11.5 kilometers will be completed soon as the construction progress has reached 98.22 percent. Road connecting Airmadidi and Kauditan is scheduled for completion in July 2020, while road connecting Kauditan and Danowudu is scheduled for completion in September 2020.
Manado – Bitung toll road that has five interchanges, – Manado Interchange, Air Madidi Interchange, Kauditan Interchange, Danowudu Interchange, and Bitung Interchange-, will cut travel time from Manado to Bitung and vice versa to 30-35 minutes from the previous two hours. The toll road is also expected to minimize risk factors for traffic accident in main roads.
The first-ever toll road in North Sulawesi Province is also expected to boost tourism in this province, particularly the Manado – Bitung – Likupang area that has been listed as one of the five priority tourism areas that will be developed this year. In addition to that, the province also has many tourism potentials and unexplored tourist destinations such as Serena Beach and Kima Atas Fall that needs supporting infrastructure.
In addition to the two toll road sections, there are two more sections which due for completion before 17 August 2020, namely Kayu Agung – Kramasan section spanning 42 kilometers which is part of 112-km Kayu Agung – Palembang – Betung Toll Road and Pekanbaru – Dumai Toll Road spanning 131 kilometers. (Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing/EN)
Translated by : Rany Anjany
Reviewed by: Mia Medyana
