President Jokowi Inspects Trans Papua Construction Site

President Jokowi inspects kilometer 23 section of Merauke-Sota road in Merauke Regency, Friday (16/11). (Photo by: Bureau of Press, Media and Information)

During his working visit to Papua province on Friday (16/11), President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inspected the Trans Papua construction road sections in the kilometer 23 section of Merauke-Sota road in Merauke Regency.

“The Trans Papua Road—starting from Merauke to Sota and Boven Digoel—has a total length of 422 kilometers. The Merauke to Sota sections that spans 78 kilometers is only 3 kilometers left unfinished. I hope that it will be finished by the end of this month,” President Jokowi said, adding that the 21 kilometers of Sota-Boven Digoel section is targeted to be completed by the end of 2018.

For the record, the 422 kilometer Merauke-Boven Digoel previously took weeks to be covered but now the route can be reached within eight hours of travel.

“We hope that with the Trans Papua roads completion, mobility of the people and distributions of goods as well as logistics delivery can be even faster and will reduce the costs,” the President said.

Although the road is targeted to be completed as soon as possible, President Jokowi stressed that the road quality remains a top priority. “If the quality is good, it can be used for a long time. The road maintenance cost in the middle of the forest is also expensive,” he continued.

Meanwhile, while inspecting the kilometer 84 of Merauke-Sota road, Sota District, Merauke Regency, the President said that the road was originally a muddy road.

“It used to be a muddy road to Boven Digoel. The traveler often stay overnight on the roadside,” the President said, adding that the construction of the road has just finished now but the road signs are not installed yet. (BPMI/EN)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Edited by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas