This section could be used by the post-fasting Lebaran travelers."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Sections I and II of the Pejagan-Pemalang toll road, which connects Pejagan, Brebes, and Pemalang in Central Java, can be opened for Eid el-Fitr or post-fasting Lebaran travelers in July, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.

President Jokowi paid a visit to Brebes to launch a synergy program for the peoples economy and also inspected the Pejagan-Pemalang toll road project.

The toll road stretches 57.5 kilometers (km) and connects the Pejagan-Brebes areas with Pemalang in Central Java.

After observing the turnpike, Jokowi noted that the construction of 21 km of Sections I and II of the Pejagan-Pemalang toll road had been completed.

"This section could be used by the post-fasting Lebaran travelers. Another 37 km of the toll road project is expected to be completed in a year. I am giving a one-year deadline to the minister of public works and public housing; the minister of state-owned enterprises; and the president director of state-owned firm contractor PT Wasikta Karya to complete it," remarked the president.

Once operational, the toll road will accelerate the distribution of goods and improve the peoples mobility.

"With construction work being carried out round-the-clock, it would be completed in 14 months," the president affirmed.

After May 2016, the construction will be continued on the 75-km-long Batang-Semarang section, he revealed.

The Pejagan-Pemalang is divided into four sections, of which Section I is 14.2 km long and will connect Pejagan with East Brebes.

Section II, with a length of 6 km, will connect West Brebes with East Brebes; while Section III, which stretches 10.4 km, will connect West Brebes with East Tegal; and Section IV, measuring 26.9 km in length, will connect East Tegal with Pemalang.

The Pejagan-Pemalang toll road is part of the Trans-Java toll roads, which connect Merak of Banten in the western part of Java with Banyuwangi in East Java.

The Trans-Java toll roads are expected to reduce traffic jams on the highway in Javas northern coastal areas.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2016