President Jokowi Inaugurates Road Infrastructure in N. Lampung to Accelerate Mobility of Goods, People

President Jokowi inaugurates the implementation of the Presidential Instruction on Regional Roads throughout Lampung Province, in North Lampung Regency, Thursday (07/11). (Photo by: Bureau of Press, Media and Information (BPMI) of the Presidential Secretariat/Vico)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Thursday (07/11) in his working visit to North Lampung regency inaugurated the implementation of the Presidential Instruction on regional roads throughout Lampung province.

The project includes improvements to 16 roads covering 102 kilometers throughout Lampung province.

“Today we will inaugurate 16 roads covering 102 kilometers throughout Lampung Province,” said President Jokowi in his remarks.

This infrastructure project is financed with a total budget of Rp806 billion, spread across 11 regencies, including a road in Jagang village, Blambangan Pagar district, which was the venue for the inauguration ceremony.

The President expressed belief that the road improvements would speed up mobility of goods and people.

“We know this is a road built to support production. It will speed up the mobility of goods and people. In the past, as I have seen the picture earlier, there used to be a lot of holes in this road, right? Now it’s already made smooth, right? But I see that there are still many roads in Lampung Province that need to be repaired and it will be done this year,” he explained.

Katwanto, a resident of Jagang Village, expressed his joy over the long-awaited road improvements.

According to him, the road improvements have reduced his travel time to the rice fields, which previously took half an hour to now only 10 minutes.

“There used to be a lot of holes in this road which made many people fall. Now it’s already as smooth as a toll road,” he said, adding that residents of his village had to wait years to get a smooth road.

Siti, a resident of Pagar Gading village, also appreciated the road improvements, but stated that there are still road sections that need more attention, including access to her village which is adjacent to Jagang village.

“Once, it wasn’t as good as this but now it’s already good and smooth. But there are still several roads heading to Pagar Gading village that are still bad, and during the rainy season they are nearly impassable,” said Siti.

Through this regional road project, the Government hopes increase access and mobility of goods and people in Lampung, as well as to stimulate local economic growth through increasing the efficiency of transportation of agricultural commodities and local products. (BPMI SETPRES/AIT) (TM/EP)