DPR Member of PKS Faction: There Must Be A Team Of Experts To Determine The 'Culprit' Of Collapsed Cipali Toll Road

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission V of the House of Representative (DPR) from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction, Sigit Sosiantomo, wants a decision regarding an expert assessment team to determine which party is responsible for the collapse of the Cipali toll road segment along the 122 + 400 kilometers towards Jakarta.

"The expert appraiser will later determine who the responsible party is," said Sigit Sosiantomo as quoted by Antara, Monday, February 15.

According to him, the appropriate term in accordance with the regulations related to the incident is a building failure, not a construction failure.

"Building failure is a condition of building collapse and/or malfunctioning of the building after the final delivery of the Construction Services results. Construction failure is a failure that occurred during the construction or construction period," said Sigit.

Referring to Law Number 2 Year 2017 concerning Construction Services, according to him, the Central Government must determine an expert appraiser for the failure of the building.

He reminded that in every construction service operation, service users and service providers are required to meet the standards of security, safety, health, and sustainability.

In the event that the operation of Construction Services does not meet the standards as intended, he continued, the Service User and/or Service Provider can be the responsible party for Building Failure.

"Apart from Service Users, there used to be Service Providers including Implementing Contractors, Planning Consultants, Supervisory Consultants and maybe even Project Management Consultants. After the expert appraisers work, it will be found who is the responsible party and what form of accountability is," he said.

As is known, a landslide occurred on the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) KM 122 towards Jakarta on Monday, February 8. This landslide was caused by the scouring of the road's slopes due to the high intensity of rain in West Java, causing the road to crack up to 40 meters long.

Previously, the Directorate General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation issued Circular number SE.3 /AJ.005/DRJD/2021 concerning the Restrictions on the Operational of Freight Transportation during the Construction Period for Surface Repair of the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) Toll Road which was broken at KM 122 + 400 Direction Jakarta.

The issuance of the SE was following the landslide of Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) Toll Road on Monday, February 8. The SE was stipulated to ensure smooth traffic during the construction period for repairing the collapsed Cipali Toll Road surface.

Director-General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation, Budi Setiyadi, said that the operational restrictions on the freight transport are set for three or more axles for freight cars, and for freight cars with attached or trailer trains, as well as for freight cars used to transport minerals, mines and building materials.

"The operational restrictions on freight transport in the form of traffic flow diversion apply to the Jakarta-Cikampek-Cikopo-Palimanan toll road leading to arterial roads. The flow diversion is valid from Thursday, February 11, to Sunday, March 28, or during the road repair period. However this restriction will adjust the policies of the National Police," explained Director General Budi.

For freight cars from the West to the East, a transfer will be carried out starting from the Cikunir Interchange, West Bekasi Toll Gate, East Bekasi Toll Gate, West Cikarang Toll Gate and will be tightened at the Cikampek/Cikopo Toll Gate, then allowed to re-enter at the Palimanan Toll Gate.

"Meanwhile, those to the West will transfer the freight car to the Pantura arterial road starting from the Kendal Toll Gate and tightening it at the Palimanan IV Toll Gate and re-entering at Cikampek/Cikopo Toll Gate," he said.