President Jokowi Kicks Off Pasuruan-Probolinggo Toll Road Operation

President Jokowi inaugurates the Pasuruan-Probolinggo Toll Road on Thursday (10/4). (Photo by: BPMI)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Wednesday (10/4) inaugurated the operation of Pasuruan-Probolinggo (Paspro) Toll Road at the East Probolinggo toll gate, Sumber Kedaung Village, Leces District, Probolinggo Regency, East Java province.

The President expressed belief that with the operation of this toll road, mobility of people and goods will increase and in turn it will boost economy in the regions.

“It is our hope that the Paspro toll road will improve mobility of goods, people, and logistics. We also hope that industrial estates, small and micro industries in the regions will develop rapidly,” the President said.

The toll road construction process began in 2017 for an overall length of 45 kilometers and today, three sections of the toll road spanning 31.3 kilometers are ready to be operated. The three sections are, among others, section I connecting Grati-Tongas with a length of 13.5 kilometers, section II connecting West Tongas-Probolinggo with a length of 6.9 kilometers, and section III connecting West Probolinggo-East Probolinggo with a length of 10.9 kilometers.

The toll road has four rest areas, each of which is built on a four-hectare land with 7.5-kilometer distance between rest areas.

The toll road now connects Jakarta and Probolinggo with a total length of 840 kilometers or if calculated from Merak to Probolinggo, the total length is 962 kilometers.

“The total length from Merak to Banyuwangi will be 1,148 kilometers, which means less than 186 kilometers from the current length. God willing, it will be completed by 2021. In the past, there was Anyer-Panarukan road done by Daendels, now we have Merak-Banyuwangi done by Minister of Public Works and Public Housing,” President Jokowi said.

After the inauguration, the President reiterated that the people, goods, and logistics would be increasingly connected.

The construction of Paspro toll road is part of the Government’s infrastructure program during President Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla administration. The toll road will significantly reduce travel time from Pasuruan to Probolinggo from 2.5 hours to 30 minutes and is also expected to reduce logistics costs.

The Government in the past four years has built 782-kilometer toll road, including Trans Java network which connects Merak to Grati in Pasuruan and this year, it aims to complete 895-kilometer toll roads, including several sections in Trans Sumatra. (BPMI/EN)

Translated by: Muhardi

Edited by: M. Ersan Pamungkas