The construction work is temporarily halted pending thorough evaluation, which is expected to last for two weeks. The moratorium was announced by the government, through the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry, on Feb 20, 2018.
"I have instructed that the construction work on all elevated sections of toll roads, LRT, and bridges should be halted beginning this morning. The Construction Safety Committee (KKK) will conduct an auditing," PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono told the press at Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta on Tuesday (Feb 20).
The minister made the statement in connection with the collapse of a girder of the elevated Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Malayu (Becakayu) toll road project in Jakarta recently, injuring seven workers. A number of similar incidents have previously taken place in Indonesia.
Based on records, since Aug 1, 2017, until Feb 20, 2018, at least 14 projects underwent accidents in Jakarta, Palembang (South Sumatra), Bogor (West Java), Cikampek (West Java), Pasuruan (East Java), Pemalang-Batang (Central Java), and Depok (West Java).
The most serious one was the collapse of a girder launcher at the construction site of a quadruple railway project on Feb 4, 2018, in East Jakarta, killing four workers and injuring others.
The evaluation of all stopped projects is expected to be completed soon, hopefully in two weeks, so that construction works could be resumed soon.
Among the elevated road projects affected by the moratorium are the elevated Jakarta-Cikampek II toll road project, spanning a length of 38 kilometers, and the Bogor Outer Ring Road (BORR) turnpike project.
However, the BORR turnpike is the first temporarily stopped project, which has passed the construction safety auditing by the KKK. Therefore, it can now continue its work on the elevated sections.
Therefore, state-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (Wika) is now ready to resume the construction of remaining sections (whose construction has not yet been completed).
"Thank God, we have been audited and have passed the evaluation. Now, we will continue the work on the P61 and P62 northern sections," BORR toll project manager Ali Afandi remarked on Sunday.
PT Wika has resumed work on the project since last Saturday (Feb 24). It will start work on the northern P61 and P62 sections on Tuesday (Feb 27).
The BORR is among the toll projects which are affected by the moratorium beginning from Feb 21, 2018. Since then, work on the elevated sections had been stopped temporarily, pending the auditing by the team from the PURR ministry, which assigned independent contractor and consultant associations.
When the BORR toll project was halted, about 98.5 percent of the physical construction had virtually been completed, while work on the land acquittal had been 100 percent finished. The unfinished work remains on a 50-meter segment of the section II-B project, which has a total length of 2.65 kilometers.
The other toll roads, included in the 32 projects, which have been affected by the moratorium, are the Jakarta-Cikampek II, which is located in West Java. According to West Java Regional Government Secretary Iwa Karniwa, most of the toll projects in West Java, other than the Jakarta-Cikampek II, have not yet entered the construction phase.
"The project affected by the moratorium in West Java is only the Cikampek II Toll Road, as other toll roads in this region have not yet entered construction phase," Karniwa stated, when contacted by telephone, on Friday (Feb 23).
In the meantime, President Director of state-owned toll road construction company PT Jasa Marga Desi Arryani inspected the Jakarta-Cikampek II elevated toll road on Sunday (Feb 25).
Arryani conducted the inspection for the first time after the government issued the.
"I hope that PT Jasamarga Jalanlayang Cikampek (JJC) would continue to work on the non-elevated sections of the project," the PT Jasa Marga president director noted. She called on JJC, as a subsidiary firm of her company, to consistently apply the Occupational Health and Work Safety Management System as well as the standard procedure in a bid to avoid work-related accidents.
Jasa Marga will re-evaluate its work methods and building construction procedure, especially with regard to occupational health and work safety. Arryani, who was accompanied by President Director of JJC, Djoko Dwijono, and General Manager of Jasa Marga for the Cikampek branch, Raddy R. Lukman, was briefed on the progress in construction of the elevated Jakarta-Cikampek II toll road project, spanning a length of 38 kilometers.
Construction of the Jakarta-Cikampek II project was initiated by Jasa Marga to provide an alternative toll road for travelers heading from Jakarta for Cikampek and Bandung or vice versa.
It is being constructed to overcome recurrent traffic gridlocks on the existing Jakarta-Cikampek toll roads. The Jakarta-Cikampek II toll road stretches on the section between Cikunir and Karawang Barat in West Java. Its construction has reached 24.48 percent completion.
"With the issuance of the moratorium, the construction of elevated sections of the road should be stopped temporarily until deemed fit for continuation after a thorough evaluation process," he revealed.
(A014/INE)
(T.A014/A/KR-BSR/A/H-YH)
Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
