Post-Longsor, Ministry Of PUPR Opens The Trans Island Timor Road In Kupang NTT

JAKARTA - Rain that has continued to hit the province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) in the past week has caused a number of disasters, one of which was a landslide that occurred at around 19.00 WITA, on Friday, February 17 on Jalan Oeapa-Batas, Soe City, KM 72+200 from the direction of Kupang City in Takari District, Kupang Regency.

Expert Staff to the Minister of PUPR for Technology, Industry and Environment as well as Spokesperson (Jubir) of the Ministry of PUPR Endra S. Atmawidjaja said this road section is a trans-Aland of Timor that connects Kupang City with four regencies, including South Central Timor, North Central Timor, Belu, Malacca, and Timor Leste Country.

The overall avalanche disaster area is 250 m with an altitude above six meters.

"The actions that have been carried out since Saturday, February 18, 2023, have been lowered by four excavators from Kupang and two excavators for cleaning from the direction of the South Central Timor Regency, and added two dozers from the Kupang direction," said Endra in a written statement, Tuesday, February 21.

Endra said that currently the road can be passed by two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles.

"Cleaning up landslides will continue and coordinate with related parties, namely local governments, the police and the TNI to carry out land-related escorts for the disposal of landslide materials and the preparation of other alternative routes in case of further landslides," he said.

Meanwhile, Director of Road and Bridge Preservation Region II Thomas Setiabudi Aden said the opening of this route was still an emergency while cleaning of soil, stone and wood materials.

"Cleaning up to completion of the landslide material is estimated to take one to two weeks," he said.

From reports received and monitoring of landslide locations, Thomas estimates that the permanent repair work of this landslide point could take a month.

This time is beyond the maximum plan to clean up the landslide material for two weeks.

He asked the public to be careful and follow the traffic arrangements implemented in landslides.

As long as the work at the landslide point is carried out, BPJN NTT simultaneously prepares alternative routes for road users to pass.

Head of BPJN NTT Agustinus Junianto said the alternative road will have a length of 580 meters, and follow the Noelmina River in Takari Village.

"The point of entry and exit is not far from the location of the landslide, we will install directions so that it becomes a guide for the community," he said.

He targets that this alternative route is ready to be used on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 or five days after the incident.

The handling of this section is very important because it is the main access for the movement of people, goods, and services from Kupang City to several districts on Timor Island, namely Kupang, South Central Timor, North Central Timor, Belu, and Malacca.

This landslide had caused long traffic jams in both directions. In addition, the flow of logistics was also hampered because this route was also passed by quite a lot of goods transportation.

"There was a tronton truck that was hit by a landslide. People got out of the vehicle and walked through the forest," he concluded.