President Jokowi Inaugurates Surabaya-Mojokerto Toll Road
Starting his working visit to East Java Province, President Joko Jokowi Widodo and First Lady Ibu Iriana Jokowi inaugurated the 18.47-km- Surabaya-Mojokerto (Sumo) Toll Road section 4, stretching from Krian to Mojokerto, on Saturday (19/3) afternoon, in Mojokerto Regency.
Sumo Toll Road is a part of Trans Java Toll Road which consists of four sections, among others:
– Section 1A : 2.3 km of toll road connecting Waru and Sepanjang, and Section 1B : 4.3 km of toll road connecting Sepanjang and Western Ring Road;
– Section 2 : 5.1 km of toll road connecting Western Ring Road and Driyorejo;
– Section 3 : 6.1 km of toll road connecting Driyorejo and Krian; and
– Section 4 : 18.47 km of toll road connecting Krian and Mojokerto.
The Government wants to concentrate on two major aspects, deregulation and infrastructures development. We want to be focused and concentrate on these two aspects. Deregulation is needed to accelerate our actions in implementing the development, President Jokowi said in his remarks delivered at the Penompo toll gate, Jetis Subdictrict, Mojokerto Regency.
According to the President, there are currently 42,000 regulations including Presidential Regulations, Government Regulations, Ministerial Regulations, and other regulations as well. The big number of regulations have impeded the Government to take action on the ground swiftly.
The Government will simplify the regulations immediately, thus, they will decide and implement the regulations quickly.
Indonesia, President Jokowi added, is late in infrastructure development, therefore, the Government has set the target of building 1,000 km of toll road at minimum in 5 years.
It has been 70 years since we gained our independence and we have only constructed 840 km of toll road. Therefore, I have instructed Minister of Public Works and Public Housing to set a target of building 1,000 km of toll road at minimum in 5 years, the President said.
Regarding Surabaya-Mojokerto Toll Road whose the construction has been planned for 21 years and has been built along 18 km, the President appreciated the performance of East Java Governor and Deputy Governor, Mojokerto and Gresik Regents, and related parties for settling the issue of land acquisition.
The President also hopes to finish the construction in 2017.
On that occasion, the President called on Regional Government, Governor, Regents, and Mayors to directly oversee the situation on the ground in order to solve problems in the construction.
I asked the Deputy Governor, Regents, and Mayors to regularly oversee the situation on the ground. The problems will be solved once we can control the situation on the ground, the President said.
The toll road is expected to accelerate the mobility of goods and people, reduce the logistic price, and in turn, it will lead to cheaper price of goods so that the people could purchase it at an affordable price.
After the inauguration, the President resumed his working visit to Montor Village, Banyuates Subdistrict, Sampang Regency, to inaugurate the operation of Nipah Dam in Sampang, Madura.
Accompanying the President in the working visit were Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of State-owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno, and Deputy Governor of East Java Province Saifullah Yusuf. (FID/NIA/ES) (RAS/EP/YM/Naster)