Land Acquisition Process Should be Discussed Well: President Jokowi
President Joko Widodo conducts the groundbreaking of Pemalang-Batang and Batang-Semarang Tollroads on Friday (17/6), at Batang, Central Java
Ending his working visit to Central Java, President Joko Jokowi Widodo inaugurated the groundbreaking of Pemalang-Batang and Batang-Semarang Tollroads on Friday (17/6) in Pasekaran Village, Batang Regency, Central Java.
The construction of this toll road should have been finished 20 years ago; yet, due to land acquisition problems and land issues, the project could not be carried on.
Indonesias infrastructures development is left behind compared to the development in other countries because it takes long time to finish the land acquisition process, be it in the construction of roads, seaports, or airports and when other countries are already constructing thousands kilometers of toll roads, we have yet to complete the Trans Java Toll Road yet, President Jokowi said in his remarks.
On that occasion, President Jokowi also instructed state-owned enterprises in charge of land acquisition to invite people to discuss that the road is constructed solely for peoples interest, not the Governments, ministers, governors or regents interests.
Road infrastructures are needed to lower the prices disparity in several regions, for example, the price of fuel in Java is between Rp6,000-7,000, while in Wamena reaches Rp60,000 per liter, President Jokowi said.
According to the President, the land acquisition process must be discussed well so that it can be solved immediately and the construction can be carried out.
People will get benefit from the project and the price of goods can be cheaper, the President added.
Also on that occasion, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono said that the 39.2-km- Pemalang-Batang Toll Road, and 75-km- Batang-Semarang Toll Road which costing Rp15.85 trillion are expected to be finished in 2018.
After the inauguration, President Jokowi, accompanied by Basuki Hadimuljono and Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno, went to monitor the project spots and simbolically handed over basic commodities to the representatives of villagers of several villages in Batang Regency, including Pasekaran, Rawabelong, and Cepoko Kuning Villages. (DAN/ES) (RAS/EP/YM/Naster)
