Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – The government has prepared a total budget of IDR 32 trillion to improve regional roads in regencies, cities and provinces in order to improve connectivity.
Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa in the State Palace area, Jakarta, Wednesday, said that according to the target in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), the government wants to increase the percentage of regional roads throughout Indonesia with stable conditions to 65 percent from the current 42 percent.
“We know the data that is currently available from around 480 thousand kilometers of district/city roads throughout Indonesia, a steady state is only 42 percent and in the RPJMN we want at least 65 percent and that 65 percent is of course not only a burden for the regions, but also a our burdens together,” he said.
Suharso said Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) would issue a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) regarding the construction and repair of regional roads in all regencies, cities and provinces.
“Earlier it was decided that there would be an Presidential Instruction for regional roads, the road sections of which would of course be decided together,” he said.
President Jokowi has also ordered the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) to become the leading agency (leading sector) in the construction and maintenance of roads in the regions.
According to Suharso, in the early stages, the central government will help repair regional roads of 9,000 kilometers (km).
“We will start by assisting around nine thousand kilometers of roads from the proposed approximately around 32 thousand kilometers, but of course we will test the readiness criteria and so on,” said Suharso.
PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono on the same occasion said that the Presidential Instruction regarding the improvement of regional roads was intended so that the central government could build regional governments to smoothen connectivity.
“That’s because it wasn’t handled properly because of the budget, not because there was no priority, but because the budget is indeed expensive, districts and cities are limited. This is what the President wants so that we can help accelerate the repair of regional roads through this Presidential Instruction,” said Basuki. (mhn/bbs)
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