President Jokowi: Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi Toll Road to be Completed by 2018
Kuala Namu Toll Gate
President Joko Jokowi Widodo inaugurated the 42 km long Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi Toll Road Section 2 to 6 in Medan, North Sumatra, Friday (13/10).
On the occasion, President Jokowi mentioned that the land acquisitions for Kualanamu – Tebing Tinggi Toll Road and then later continued to be 14 km long to Toba have been completed. The President added that it means now it is a matter of construction work. “I asked to the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises and Minister of Public Works and Public Housing regarding the completion, they said approximately by mid 2018, 42 km long + 14 km connected to Tebing Tinggi,” the President said.
The President hopes that with this Toll Road, Toba and its surroundings will become a tourism destination given from Medan-Tebing Tinggi to Toba which now takes 4 to 5 hours, if the Toll is completed, it will take approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. “So, the mobility of people and goods can be very fast. This means that if there is a fast mobility of goods, transport prices will also be lower, if the price of transportation is lower, then the prices of goods carried by the trucks will be lower as well,” the President added.
When it comes to transportation costs that will go down with the presence of toll, the President continued, it is also expected to improve Indonesia’s competitiveness. “This is why I always monitor the scene at firsthand, I ask any problem? I found that the Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi is no problem, the land acquisition is complete. But, there is a problem in Medan-Binjai, there are still problems with land acquisition,” the President explained.
In order to expedite the completion of the project, the President said to have ordered the Regional Police Chief, High Prosecutor Office (Kejati), Military Commander (Pangdam) to support to expedite the settlement, of course the key is also in the National Land Agency (BPN) Regional Office. “Do good approaches. This is not for the benefit of one person, nor for the benefit of two people, but for the interest of the people, all in the context of the mobility of goods and people,” the President explained.
When it comes to infrastructure, the President said that Indonesia is lagging behind because in the future the costs will be more expensive because of the high price of land acquisition and construction.
In Jakarta, the President added, the construction of subway or MRT has also been delayed, in fact, it should have been built since 25 or 30 years ago with a land price of 5-10 million rupiah. “This is the importance of why I continue to push, follow the development in the field, what the problems are, because we want everything to be resolved immediately,” the President said.
The President also pointed out Kuala Tanjung which is also expected to be completed soon. He also added that the industrial area in Semangke, then the tourism area, the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for tourism in Toba and its surrounding areas also continue to be worked on. (TAUFIK/BPMI/ DNA/EN) (MUR/YM/Naster).
