Under his administration, Jokowi remarked that a total of 2,040 km of toll roads had been built, from the previous 780 kilometers.
"This means that Indonesia only has 2,800 kilometers of toll roads. Meanwhile, China already has 280 thousand kilometers," he stated at the inauguration of the Indralaya Toll Road and the Patih Galum Flyover in Palembang City, South Sumatra, which was accessed via video broadcast in Jakarta, Thursday.
According to the head of state, the length of toll roads in Indonesia shows that it still lags behind China in terms of competitiveness.
"Our competitiveness is still far behind. We must pursue it in order to compete with other countries," he emphasized.
For Sumatra Island, the government had planned to build 2,800 km of the Trans Sumatra Toll Road (JTTS), including 1,800 kilometers of JTTS as the backbone of the island, Jokowi remarked.
According to Jokowi, community and religious leaders in South Sumatra had said that the travel time from Palembang to Lampung earlier took 10-12 hours.
With the Trans Sumatra Toll Road, the travel time from Palembang to Lampung will be much shorter, namely around 3.5 hours, he remarked.
"We hope that this development can boost mobility of goods and services to increase our competitiveness," the president remarked.
President Jokowi inaugurated the 64.5-kilometer Indralaya-Prabumulih Toll Road. Based on data from the official website of the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry, the Indralaya-Prabumulih Toll Road commenced operation for free on August 30, 2023.
The toll road managed by PT Hutama Karya (Persero) can reduce travel time between Palembang and Prabumulih by approximately an hour.
The Indralaya-Prabumulih Toll Road is part of the construction of the Indralaya-Muara Enim Toll Road, with a total length of around 119 kilometers.
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Translator: Mentari Dwi G, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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