Members Of The House Of Representatives Of The PKS Faction Criticize The Naming Of The Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Toll Road: Better The Name Of A National Hero

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Expressway. (Photo; Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission V DPR Toriq Hidayat highlighted the naming of the Jakarta-Cikampek II Elevated toll road to the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) Toll Road, namely the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, as an odd thing.

"To be honest, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has nothing to do with the construction of the toll road," said Toriq Hidayat in a written statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Sunday, April 18.

He said the Jakarta-Cikampek or Japek II Elevated toll road which has a length of 36.4 kilometers was built by a consortium of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk and PT Ranggi Sugiron Perkasa with a share ownership composition of both 80 percent and 20 percent, respectively. .

According to him, the Central Government itself does not yet have regulations regarding the naming of national roads under its authority.

Different from some local governments, he continued, which actually already have their own rules regarding the naming of roads that are under their authority.

"The Indonesian people have more right to attach the name of a National Hero on the Jakarta-Cikampek Elevated II toll road, because there are still many names of National Heroes whose names have not been immortalized as the names of national roads," added Toriq.

Therefore, he asked the government to review the name change of the Jakarta-Cikampek II Elevated Toll Road.

"In this case, the government should prepare rules for naming every asset belonging to the state by considering naming conventions that reflect and build the spirit of nationalism, mutual cooperation, national unity and integrity," said Toriq.

Previously, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) hoped that the establishment of a new name for the Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road or Japek II elevated as the Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed flyover could increase cooperation between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Director General of Highways of the Ministry of PUPR, Hedy Rahardian, said that this name change was stipulated through the Minister of Public Works and Housing Decree Number 417 KPTSM dated April 8, 2021.

"With the inauguration of this street name, hopefully it can improve cooperation and diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the UAE," said Hedy in a written statement received in Jakarta, Monday, April 12.

The Japek II Elevated toll road has a length of 36.4 kilometers and construction has been in progress since early 2017, then inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on December 12, 2019.

"With a traffic density of 200 thousand vehicles per day, this route is the lifeblood of the Indonesian economy and is located in a rapidly developing industrial and residential area east of Jakarta," said Hedy.

The Japek II Elevated Toll Road, which has been operating, has become one of the solutions to congestion that often occurs in these vital sections. The Japek II Elevated toll road is the longest elevated toll road in Indonesia and the first multilevel toll road in Indonesia.

The toll road is to separate the Jakarta-Bekasi-Cikarang short-distance commuter movement from the long-distance movement to Cirebon, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya (express / elevated lanes), especially for class I non-buses.