Director General of Highways at the Public Works and Housing Ministry Hedy Rahadian stated here Sunday that, currently, one lane of the track which was impacted by the landslide had been opened.
"Thank God, one lane has resumed to function since Saturday, October 29, at 05.43pm local time. The landslide is quite vast, so the cleaning work for the opening of the two lanes will be carried out carefully, and will take time," he said.
He noted that the ministry would immediately prepare a permanent measure to prevent the recurrence of landslides in the future.
"A team of workers have already been on the field to prepare a permanent design for the overall slope setting," he stated.
Landslides that occurred at several locations on the Trans Sulawesi route were caused by downpour showering the area since Thursday, October 27.
The falls of rocks, soil, and even fallen trees occurred on the Mamuju District - Tameroddo on KM. 77+700, KM. 77+800, KM. 78+400, and KM. 84+200. Two directions of the landslide-hit road section had resumed to function as of Thursday at 05.08 pm local time.
However, on Thursday, October 27 at 07.00 pm local time, another big landslide occurred at KM. 84+500 (Sangiang) by covering about 100 meters since the soil and rocks containing water were still moving from the cliff.
Head of the West Sulawesi National Road Center at Public Works and Public Housing Ministry Sjofa Rosliansjah said that seven units of heavy equipment had been deployed to clean up the landslide materials.
"During cleaning, traffic is regulated by an open-close scheme in coordination with the police and equipped with security signs. Road users are expected to be careful. Traffic will be closed when it rains to reduce the risk of accidents (caused by) being buried by avalanches," they said.
Permanent handling will be carried out after a thorough study is conducted to avoid errors that can trigger the recurrence of landslides.
"The measures that will be taken by West Sulawesi National Road Center are mapping topography with longitudinal and transverse sections at the landslide location, conducting a thorough soil (geological) study at the landslide location, conducting soil laboratory testing and analysis, and then determining a ground handling," Rosliansjah added.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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