Director general of highways at the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, Hedy Rahadian, conveyed this information at an online press conference in Jakarta on Friday.
"National road stretching 13,417 km along Sumatra Island is at 93.8 percent readiness. In Java and Bali, roads of 7,090 km long combined have reached 96.43 percent readiness. Meanwhile, in Kalimantan, 90.33 percent of 8,036 km of road is ready," Rahadian elaborated.
He then said that the ministry has inspected the readiness of national roads in Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua regions.
The readiness of 8,794 kilometers of roads on Sulawesi Island has reached 92.73 percent, 3,092 km of roads in Nusa Tenggara 95.12 percent, and 7,172 km of roads in Maluku and Papua 85.37 percent, he expounded.
He further said that nationally, 73 toll roads spanning 2,816 km overall are set to accommodate a spike in vehicle flow during the long year-end holidays.
According to Rahadian, the toll roads are scattered across several islands, with the roads in Java stretching 1,782 km, Sumatra 856 km, Bali 10 km, Kalimantan 97 km, and Sulawesi 62 km.
"We have been striving to construct a total of 410 km of toll roads throughout 2023, with 218 km of the roads having commenced operations. We are expecting 100 km more to become operational by the upcoming holidays," he informed.
He said that the ministry has also prepared 132 rest areas along the toll roads. The former office of state-owned toll road business entity PT Jasa Marga at the exit gate of Cipena Toll Road, West Java, will be used as one of the rest areas, he added.
The ministry will also deploy personnel from a task force to monitor the security on the toll roads, he said.
Rahadian added that apart from reviewing the readiness of national toll and non-toll roads, the ministry has confirmed that all road repair works will cease from December 15 at the latest.
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Translator: Kuntum K, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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