Construction Of The Gedebage-Tasikmalaya-Cilacap Toll Road Starting This Year, Minister Basuki: Fast Is A Must But Not Sufficient

JAKARTA - Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono has good news for the residents of Bandung and its surroundings. The Ministry of PUPR together with the Toll Road Business Entity (BUJT) will start the construction of the Gedebage - Tasikmalaya - Cilacap (Getaci) Toll Road this year.

Minister Basuki said that the construction of the Getaci Toll Road, which began in 2022, is expected to be completed in 2024 for the first phase of construction.

“In carrying out the construction of the Getaci Toll Road, I would like to remind you that it is a must but not sufficient. I hope to maintain environmental principles so as not to damage the existing hills," Minister Basuki said in a written statement quoted by Antara, Thursday, February 24.

In addition, said Basuki, to avoid cutting unnecessary trees. This is an order from President Jokowi, the message is that in building, do not damage the environment.

Currently the progress has been the determination of the location (penlok) for the first stage by the Governor of West Java, now it is taking care of the penlok from the Central Java Regional Government. After the penlok, there is a land acquisition process such as socialization and then deliberation.

The Getaci Toll Road crosses two provinces, namely West Java Province with a length of 171.40 km and Central Java Province with a length of 35.25 km with a total length of 206.65 km, which makes this toll road the longest toll road segment in Indonesia.

This toll road is one of the National Strategic Projects as stated in Presidential Regulation Number 109 of 2020 concerning the Acceleration of Implementation of National Strategic Projects.

The Getaci toll road consists of 4 sections, namely Section 1 Junction Gedebage - North Garut (45.20 km), section 2 North Garut - Tasikmalaya (50.32 km), section 3 Tasikmalaya - Patimuan (76.78 km), and section 4 Patimuan. – Cilacap (34.35 km).

The toll road construction with an investment value of IDR 56 trillion will be divided into two stages. The first phase of Gedebage – Tasikmalaya is planned to start construction in 2022 and be completed in 2024. Meanwhile for the second phase, namely Tasikmalaya – Cilacap construction will begin in 2027 and be completed in 2029.

Minister Basuki said that during the construction process, we must also pay attention to the quality of development. So that the results are not only connected but also make it more comfortable which is a demand for community use.

"The Getaci Toll Road, especially in the Gedebage area, has a complicated geological structure with lots of mountain rocks that are prone to landslides, so special handling is needed during the construction process," he said.

Meanwhile, Director General of Highways Hedy Rahadian said the construction of the Getaci Toll Road was to facilitate connectivity and improve the community's economy, especially in the south of West Java.

“Connectivity to the southern region (West Java) is getting lower and lower due to traffic density, as now from Tasik to Bandung, which is only 100 km away, can take up to 3 hours. So, the need for this freeway is a necessity because in the southern region there are a lot of growth centers, but the connectivity is still not good," said Hedy.