President Jokowi Inaugurates Manado-Danowudu Section of Manado-Bitung Toll Road

President Jokowi inaugurates Manado–Danowudu Toll Road via video conference from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Tuesday (29/9). (Photo by: Public Relations/Oji)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated Manado-Danowudu section of the Manado-Bitung toll road on Tuesday (29/9).

“Thank God, the 26-kilometer Manado–Danowudu section of the Manado-Bitung toll road has been completed, and now it can be used to support business activities and facilitate public transportation,” President Jokowi said via video conference from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province.

The Manado-Danowudu section is the first toll road in North Sulawesi Province which is part of the longest toll road on Sulawesi Island, the 40-kilometer Manado-Bitung toll road.

The investment value of the Manado-Bitung toll road construction reached Rp5.12 trillion. The 15-kilometer Manado Airmadidi section was funded by the State Budget of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, while the 25-kilometer Airmadidi-Bitung section was carried out by PT Jasa Marga using KPBU (Government Cooperation with Business Entities) scheme.

The toll road reduced Manado-Bitung travel time and vice versa. “It used to take 1.5 hours, now it is only half an hour. This is very fast. There is a huge change in the travelling time,” the President stated.

This Manado-Bitung toll road, the President added, is also designed to be integrated with industrial and tourism areas in North Sulawesi.

“Through this toll road, the logistics costs of Bitung International Port can be lowered so that it is more efficient, competitiveness will also increase automatically,” the President said. (TGH/UN)

Translated by: Fairuzzamani Inayatillah
Reviewed by: Lulu Wuliarti