Roads Are Severely Damaged, Residents Of South Lampung Hope For Improvements Ahead Of Jokowi's Arrival

Illustration of the road repair project is damaged. (Between)

Residents of South Lampung Regency hope that the government can immediately repair the road to Sabah Balau Village whose condition is badly damaged. This request is ahead of President Joko Widodo's arrival to Lampung which is planned for tomorrow, Wednesday, May 3.

The Endro Suratmin Canal Road, which is one of the main access points to Sabah Balau Village, was badly damaged for about 1 kilometer. There are many holes on both sides of the road to the groundbreaking site for the Trans Sumatra Toll Road.

"Please pay attention to the government, and this Endro Suratmin Street must pay attention to it, when it will be repaired," said one local resident Awi (45), who was confiscated by Antara.

He said, as a result of the damage to the Endro Suratmin Canal Road, many accident victims on the route had even caused residents to die due to falling.

"There were many accidents, because they avoided the holes on the road, in 2022 even a mother fell on the road and died after being taken to the hospital," he said.

According to him, the last time the road was repaired or paved was about 4 to 5 years ago after the toll road section was completed. The Kotabaru Toll Gate for the Trans Sumatra Toll Road (JTTS) is not far from this road section.

"So in the past, because this road was badly damaged, residents complained to Waskita (Karya) and then they were dredged by the rest of the toll road construction," he said.

However, the time the road being dredged turned out to cause problems, namely dust during the dry season and muddy during the rainy season, so residents complained again, then the government fixed it by paving.

"But the reality is it hasn't been 10 years or even 5 years, the asphalt has been damaged with holes again," he said.

In fact, he said, local residents are self-help to cover the holes on the road with limestone, in order to minimize accidents due to damaged roads.

"Ahead of Lebaran, our residents worked together to close the potholes around the Putri Dancing Monument, because there was no attention from the local government," he said.

Another resident of Sabah Balau, Sofyan, hopes that both sides of the Endro Suratmin Canal Road will be repaired with better asphalt quality than before.

"Of course, this potholed and badly damaged road is very disturbing for people's activities, especially when it rains, the road is very muddy and prone to single accidents," he said.

Based on data from the Bina Marga Development Office, the Lampung Province of the total length of roads under provincial authority is 1,693,273 kilometers, with 98 roads divided into 16 corridors.

Of these, for roads with steady conditions there are 76.85 percent, and 23.15 percent unstable. With road conditions heavily damaged along 256.471 kilometers, lightly damaged 131.076 kilometers, moderately damaged 468.630 kilometers, and good condition 832.666 kilometers.

Recently, residents have complained about the condition of a number of damaged roads in Lampung, including going viral on social media. Residents hope that roads in their area, both district/city roads, provincial roads and national roads, especially those in severe condition, can be repaired immediately.

In Bandarlampung City, the capital city of Lampung Province, residents also hope that the local mayor will immediately order the relevant agencies to immediately repair the main roads in urban areas and villages of local residents who have potholes, some of whom were also badly damaged, immediately repaired.

They hope that before Eid yesterday, the damaged roads will be repaired immediately, especially after going viral by TikTokers from Lampung regarding the condition of road damage in Lampung. However, until after this Lebaran, the damage to these roads has not yet been handled by the local government.