Every year during Ied ul Fitr, millions of Muslims leave Jakarta to celebrate Ied ul Fitr with relatives in the regions.
"We appreciate the hard work by Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono in carrying out the construction of the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road," Budi said when officiating the Citra Maja Raya housing complex in the Lebak District on Saturday.
Completion of the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road had been delayed with many projects left idle by irresponsible developers, he said, adding, therefore, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked the Public Works Minister to take over to finish the project.
The Public Works Minister received the order with risk of being fired if failing to finish construction of part of the Trans Java toll road project in a year.
The promise of the Public Works Minister to finish the job of building the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road in a year deserves appreciation, Budi said.
It is predicted the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road could be operational to ease traffic, which would be busy ahead and during Ied-ul Fitr. Construction of the remaining part of the Trans Java toll road from Surabaya to Banyuangi would follow in 2019.
"Operation of the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road would greatly contribute to development of the people`s economy," Budi said.
The Transport Minister said the reputation of the Public Works Minister has been shown in the operation of part of the Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu (Becakayu) flyover toll road inaugurated by President Jokowi recently.
The Becakayu projects has also been left unfinished and idle for more than ten years, but the Public Works Ministry could finish the job in a year.
Therefore, Budi said he hoped that the Serpong-Maja and Balaraja-Maja toll roads could be put into operation next year.
"We encouraged development of Citra Maja Raya in Maja into an integrated city in railway and toll road transport," he said.
He also appreciates private companies taking part in the development of infrastructure as the government could not alone finance the projects.
Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the integrated city was developed on agreement between the central government, the Banten provincial administration, the Lebak district administration and the private sector.
Maja in Lebak, is a new city developed together with 10 other cities in Indonesia.
This city could become a self supporting city in the future and would encourage 1.2 million of people from Jakarta to move to the city.
The city, located west of Jakarta, is also expected to curb urbanization to capital city.
(U.SYS/B/H-ASG/B003)
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
