Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia on a Limited Cabinet Meeting on Acceleration of Construction of Trans Sumatra and Cisumdawu Toll Road Tuesday, 7 July 2020 at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good morning,

May prosperity be upon us all.

Distinguished Vice President,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

In today’s Limited Meeting, we will discuss on acceleration of the construction of national strategic toll road projects, mainly in Sumatra, Trans Sumatra, and the Cisumdawu.

Those projects are projected to speed up our national economic recovery. The 2,765-kilometers-long Trans Sumatra Toll Road is expected to be able to encourage economic growth and equity on the island of Sumatra. So there will be efficiency on travel time which later may increase the multiplier effect to two or three folds of our GDP.

First, related to the Trans Sumatra Toll Road, the investment needed is Rp476 trillion. And from that total investment, the project still needs additional funding of Rp386 trillion to complete the entire backbone segment until 2024. I request this to be carefully calculated for its financial viability and also possible options for additional equity in continuing this project. I ask for a breakthrough in alternative financing sources to reduce the burden on equity of PMN and the state budget. I think this needs to be underlined.

Second is related to the construction of the Cisumdawu Toll Road. The toll road is very important for the people but the construction is hampered. I acknowledge that the land acquisition process as well as the land acquisition funds have caused the delay due to administrative matters. I would like to hear the detailed information on this. Those problems should be resolved immediately, especially by Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning. Next, for the incomplete implementation of technical regulations, I order Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning and Ministry of Finance to resolve it completely as soon as possible. We need to speed up all processes since the toll road will be connected to Kertajati Airport.

Those issues are what I would like to address. I see that there are recurring technical and administrative obstacles that continue to happen repeatedly and still no permanent solution for that. The past solution is always case by case instead of designing simple regulations that are concise and quick. I think that is the only solution we should have.

I conclude my remarks here.

Translated by Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by Lulu Wuliarti