The Minister Of SOEs Emphasized The Presence Of Toll Roads To Accelerate Economic Growth In The Regions

Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir emphasized that the existence of expressways or toll roads will help accelerate economic growth in an area.

"This toll road is one of the most important facilities when we want to ensure the economic growth of an area," said SOE Minister Erick Thohir while reviewing the continuation of the Padang-Pekanbaru Toll Road construction Section Padang-Sicincin in Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, March 6.

When reviewing the Padang-Pekanbaru Toll Road, the Sicincin Section, which has a length of 36.15 kilometers, Erick said that the continuation of the construction of the national strategic program (PSN) must continue even though the land acquisition problem has not been fully resolved.

Given that the existence of toll roads is important to support the acceleration of economic growth and ease of access to transportation and connectivity, Erick encourages Hutama Karya as the developer to accelerate development.

The construction of the Padang-Pekanbaru Toll Road began in 2018 but was stopped in 2021. After that, the Ministry of SOEs held a meeting with Commission VI to find a solution for the PSN work.

Erick admitted that the Ministry of SOEs welcomed the proposal of Commission VI member Andre Rosiade who was determined to continue the construction of the toll road which had been stopped.

"The ministries of SOEs and Hutama Karya welcome it because this toll road is one of the most important facilities when we want to ensure economic growth," he said.

Meanwhile, a member of Commission VI, one of his working partners of the Ministry of SOEs, Andre Rosiade, admitted that the construction of the Padang-Pekanbaru Toll Road Section of Sicincin had stopped.

However, after communicating with the Minister of SOEs, the central government through the Ministry of SOEs budgeted for the construction of the toll road through state capital participation.

"At that time I lobbied the Minister of SOEs so that the proposed state capital participation would be set aside for toll road construction," said Andre.