Government Lowers Logistics Fees Via Serang Panimbang Toll Road

JAKARTA - The government is trying to continue to improve connectivity, reduce logistics costs and encourage Indonesia's economic growth. PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk (WIKA) also contributed to supporting the reduction in logistics costs through the construction of the Serang Panimbang Toll Road.

The Serang Panimbang Toll Road itself has a length of 83.67 km and connects Serang as the capital city of Banten Province with Panimbang District, which is the main access to the Tanjung Lesung Special Economic Zone (KEK).

The President Director of WIKA, Agung Budi Waskito, said that the Serang Panimbang Toll Road is an infrastructure designed to reduce travel time from Jabodetabek to Central-South Banten which originally had a travel time of 3 to 4 hours to only 1 to 2 hours.

Agung said the construction of the Serang Panimbang Toll Road will also open access to isolated areas, create new economic opportunities, and increase the efficiency of supply chains.

In addition, continued Agung, this toll road is also expected to accelerate economic growth in the Central Banten to South Banten region and reduce economic disparities with North Banten, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the Banten region with the surrounding provinces.

"The construction of the Serang Panimbang Toll Road is not only about accelerating the travel time and distribution of goods, but also about creating new economic opportunities and increasing the efficiency of logistics supply chains," he said in an official statement, Friday, January 17.

To ensure the smooth construction and quality of good toll roads, he continued, WIKA continues to take various steps. Starting from toll planning and design that is carried out optimally taking into account security factors.

Then, continued Agung, he also took advantage of the principle of risk-based thinking to identify and mitigate potential risks that could arise.

"Construction quality supervision is also carried out strictly, following high quality management standards, and using leading construction technology, both Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean Construction," he said.

Agung said the construction of the Serang Panimbang Toll Road consisted of three sections, namely Section 1 Serang-Rangkasbitung with a length of 26.5 kilometers (km) which had been operating since December 2021.

Then, Section 2 of the 24.1 km Rangkasbitung-Cileles which is currently under construction and is targeted to operate in March 2025.

"As well as Section 3 Cileles-Panimbang along 33 km which is divided into two sub-sections, namely Section 3A Cileles-Bojong along 17.46 km and Section 3B Bojong-Panimbang along 15.54 km which is also in the construction process and is targeted to operate in September and December 2025," he explained.

Based on an economic feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of PUPR in 2016, the Serang Panimbang Toll Road will be able to reduce the Operational Cost of Vehicles (BOK) by 30 percent and reduce goods transportation travel time by 50 percent.

Thus, sending goods from Jabodetabek to Central-South Banten will be more efficient, both in terms of time and cost.

"This is in line with Asta Cita, which targets regional development for economic equity and increases national independence through infrastructure that supports connectivity and accessibility," he said.

In addition to the Serang Panimbang Toll Road, WIKA has also contributed to building various monumental infrastructures that play an important role in streamlining travel time and distance, reducing logistics costs, and Indonesia's economic growth.

Among them are the Belawan Container Terminal and the Pekanbaru Padang Toll Road in Sumatra, Kijing Terminal and the Balikpapan Samarinda Toll Road in Kalimantan, Manado Bitung Toll Road and Makassar New Port Toll Access Road in Sulawesi, to the Construction of the Sorong Port Container Pier and Reclamation and Oksibil Towe Street in Papua.