"We (the government) will soon repair this. The work will practically begin no later than July," the President said in a statement issued via video broadcast from Jakarta on Wednesday.
Widodo cited reports stating that 260 km of the total 2,600 km of national roads in Sumatra are in a damaged condition. Furthermore, of the 3,005 km of roads stretching across the province, around 340 km are also in a damaged condition. Meanwhile, of the 33 thousand km of district roads, 13 thousand km are in a similar state.
"We found 13 km (of damaged roads) here, and also 17 km of the roads toward Tanjung Leidong are also in a similar condition as here," he noted.
Regarding the repairs of damaged roads in the province, the President informed that the task will be carried out by multiple levels of government, with the central government working on national roads, provincial governments on provincial roads, and district/municipal administrations on roads in their respective regions.
However, he said that the central government may also take over repair works of provincial and district/municipal roads in case governors or district heads find themselves unable to carry out the repairs.
"The central government may take over the works on some roads in case of incapability of the regional governments," he added.
Widodo said that the repairs process will take time given the large extent of damaged roads in the province.
"And not only in North Sumatra, do not solely focus on North Sumatra. There are also roads in other provinces that are in a similar condition," he said.
The President further said that he received reports of damaged roads not only from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), but also from people via social media.
As seen on the video broadcast, during the inspection, the President stopped and got out of the car to directly inspect road damage before proceeding to issue a statement to journalists.
The damaged roads that were inspected appeared to have sandy soil and were marked with large potholes, with puddles forming at a number of spots. Thus, the presidential SUV-type vehicle had to ply slowly when navigating the puddles.
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Translator: Rangga Pandu, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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