Sragen, C Java (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is optimistic that the toll road from Jakarta to Surabaya would be connected in December 2019.

"I am very happy that this morning, we will inaugurate the Solo-Ngawi toll road in the Sragen-Ngawi segment. It means that soon, from Jakarta to Surabaya, at the end of this year, God willing, everything would be connected," President Jokowi remarked while inaugurating the Sragen-Ngawi toll road in Sragen on Wednesday.

He noted now only sections from Pemalang to Batang, Batang to Semarang, Salatiga to Solo, and then Wilangan to Kertosono that were left to be finished.

"When I asked about it to the minister of SOEs and the director general, they said that it would all be completed in mid-December or at the end of December 2019. They asked me to just set the date to formalize it. It means it will really have been finished by then," he noted.

He expressed hope that with the completion of the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road, all regional heads would integrate it with existing industrial areas, both new and old.

This toll road will also be integrated with tourist areas to draw more crowds.

"Do not let this toll road stand alone as a toll road. Everything must be integrated, so that the benefits are truly maximal," he remarked.

He believes that the mobility of people and goods can all be improved once the toll road is connected, so it can run quickly.

Reporting by Agus Salim
Editing by Eliswan Azly, Yoseph Hariyadi

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Editor: Bustanuddin
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