JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Lasarus, highlighted the condition of many potholes almost throughout Indonesia during the 2026 Lebaran homecoming and return period. He admitted that many complaints were submitted by the public to his party during that period.
"As we know, there are quite a lot, sir, complaints during the homecoming and Eid return related to road conditions throughout Indonesia, that is the fact that we experience. I am monitoring, sir, there are reports of many holes and so on, this is both in Sumatra, Kalimantan and even in Java itself, we can report almost the same condition," said Lasarus in the Working Meeting of Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives with the Ministry of Public Works at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, April 7.
Lasarus assessed that the number of potholes was the result of a decrease in infrastructure budgets in the era of the Prabowo Subianto Presidential Government, which had an impact on reducing maintenance costs to the maintenance of sections.
"This is definitely the impact of the reduction in infrastructure costs that we received. We cannot deny it, sir, because indeed the maintenance, maintenance, not yet construction is closely related to the fiscal we have, (given) Indonesia is so vast, from Sabang to Merauke," he said.
This is also influenced by the priority program of President Prabowo Subianto which needs to be carried out by the PU Ministry, including the development of regional roads to support national food security to the decline in special allocation funds (DAK) to the regions.
"Plus, there is a burden to add us, sir, today, namely we have to intervene again in the infrastructure conditions in the region massively, starting from the name of the community-based inpres program, we are burdened again to build regional roads today with the regional road inpres. We are burdened again in order to support food security, the existence of the irrigation inpres is also our responsibility in the Commission (V)," he said.
"And but Mr. Minister (PU) with so much burden, there is a tendency for infrastructure budgets to decrease compared to the previous government period. The current condition must be admitted together, which ultimately must have an impact, Sir, on the quality of roads and achievements in the framework of our new construction, especially catching up on infrastructure in areas that today we also know that DAK budgets in the regions have also experienced a significant decline," he added.
In addition, continued Lasarus, improving the quality of service support facilities, emphasizing standardization and adding facilities at rest and service (TIP)/rest areas also need attention. Including, vehicle flow management and the availability of clean water to improve the comfort and safety of road users.
"This rest area is our responsibility, Mr. Minister (PU), especially on toll roads. I think this is a matter of years, sir, and we always find it. Is there still a problem in the rest area this year, still, because this concerns public services, I think we have to pay attention to improve it, so that the homecoming or return to Lebaran 2027 and Nataru 2026 can be improved. service in all rest areas in Indonesia," said Lasarus.
The third point, related to strengthening cross-sectoral coordination and integration. According to Lasarus, coordination at the government level is quite good during the 2026 Eid homecoming and return period. However, he said, the stability of the road infrastructure remains a determinant of the smooth flow of homecoming and return to Eid this year.
"I think the coordination at the government level is quite good, yes, only this coordination will be more stable, Sir, if the respective responsibilities and authorities can be fulfilled well. We take an example if the road conditions are not good, the police will certainly have difficulty in supervising the order, comfort and smoothness of traffic on the location, as well as the Ministry of Transportation as the responsible for Lebaran homecoming and return. Therefore, in fact, Sir, the main problem of Lebaran homecoming and return is the availability of stable infrastructure, infrastructure, it is the main determining factor of the smoothness of Lebaran homecoming and return," he explained.
Even so, Commission V of the DPR RI appreciates the performance of the PU Ministry in ensuring the smooth flow of the 2026 Eid homecoming and return. In the midst of budget constraints, according to Lasarus, the ministry led by Dody Hanggodo did not receive serious attention regarding the condition of road infrastructure.
"Regarding the evaluation of the implementation of the 2026 infrastructure, Commission V of the DPR RI expressed its appreciation to the PU ministry. With limited budget, there were no prominent incidents, sir, from the road conditions we have experienced so far, although there are complaints that there are many holes," he concluded.
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