“The City Infrastructure Master Plan formulation supporting five strategic industries is (based on a) directive from the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry. Loci set for the master plan are Weda Bay, Sorowako, Morowali, Konawe, and Tanjung Selor. This master plan will also support the road handling program through the presidential instruction on connectivity improvement (issued) by the Directorate General of Highways," Head of the Regional Infrastructure Development Agency Yudha Mediawan informed here on Wednesday.
He said that his administration has issued Letter Number 18/KPTS/KW/2023 on April 18, 2023, regarding the master plan.
The ministry is consistently pursuing infrastructure development in some of the prioritized industrial areas, of which Morowali Industrial Area is one, he informed.
According to the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs' Regulation Number 9 of 2022, the Morowali Industrial Area is one of the national strategic projects, he said.
Currently, the industrial area, which is situated in Bahodopi sub-district, Morowali, is in the middle of its first development stage covering 4 thousand hectares of land plots, he informed.
The industrial area managed by PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) is producing some products such as ferronickels and stainless steel, he added.
He disclosed that for the 2020–2023 period, the ministry has focused on the development of some infrastructure projects, such as the labor-intensive drainage revitalization in Bungku-Bahodopi-Batas Sultra in 2020, the Bahodopi-Batas Sultra road extension in 2021–2022, and the preservation of Bungku-Bahodopi-Batas Sultra road in 2020–2023, with the total investment pegged at Rp135.8 billion (US$9 million).
The development of some smelters and mines in the area will impact the environment and connectivity infrastructure, therefore, the ministry will follow up by formulating activities that will be pursued in the 2024 budget year, he said.
"The activities planned for the 2024 budget year include the improvement, by 10km, of the Bungku-Bahodopi-Batas Sultra road’s capacity, the restoration of some 20 hectares of slums by Morowali industrial area, and (the implementation of a) waste management system in the area (by) developing 20 hectares of Bahodopi landfill. Total of investment is some Rp122 billion (US$8.1 million)," Mediawan elaborated.
The ministry is currently preparing the readiness criteria for some of the area's supporting infrastructures, work on which is estimated to kick off in the 2025 budget year, he added.
"The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will also prepare for the improvement of the water network, expansion of the Bahonsuai-Bungku road, and the establishment of Morowali district's drinking water network, an integrated residential-scale domestic wastewater management system in Morowali district, a district-scale waste management system, (as well as) house renovation programs, and the provision of access to habitable houses," he added.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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