Jokowi Inaugurates Trans Sumatra Toll Road Indralaya-Prabumulih Section, South Sumatra

President Joko Widodo attached an electronic money card when inaugurating the JTTS Indralaya-Muara Enim intersection section for the Indralaya-Prabumulih intersection, Sumse., Thursday (26/10/2023). (ANTARA PHOTO/Nova Wahyudi/rwa)

SOUTH SUMATRA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the Trans Sumatra Toll Road (JTTS) for the 64.5 km Indralaya 'Prabumulih section in Ogan Ilir Regency, South Sumatra, South Sumatra, Thursday, October 26.

When inaugurating the toll road, Jokowi said that this is part of the 2,800 km of toll roads in Sumatra which are being built by the government and will increase the speed of the mobility of goods and services so that competitiveness becomes better.

According to him, the distance between Palembang Lampung, which usually takes 10-12 hours, has taken since the construction of the toll road, can be reached with a time of 3.5 hours.

"This toll road has been built since 2019 with a difficult terrain, especially in South Sumatra with an investment cost of IDR 12.5 trillion. Investment is indeed large, but the benefits for the country and the people will be extraordinary if we can increase productivity, namely by connecting toll roads to agricultural areas, tourism, plantations, industry, the benefits will be enormous," he said, confiscated by Antara.

Jokowi emphasized how important the infrastructure improvement will continue by the government in order to compete with other countries, whose development can be through the state budget, state-owned enterprises, to the private sector.

"Our toll road is still far from less. Because, until now Indonesia has built 2,820 km of toll roads, while the People's Republic of China (RRT) alone has 280 thousand km, how far is the competitiveness still. Therefore, it is necessary to pursue it so that it can compete with other countries," he said.

Executive Vice President (EVP) Corporate Secretary Hutama Karya Tjahjo Purnomo, said the toll road had received an Operational Worthiness Certificate (SLO) from the Directorate General of Highways of the Ministry of PUPR last July, and has been operating without tariffs since August 30, 2023. The Traffic Volume (VLL) of vehicles that have passed since the beginning of operation (30/08) until Monday (23/10) exceeds the prediction of Hutama Karya, recorded a total of 309,733 vehicles.

"Seeing the enthusiasm of the community, it is hoped that the toll road can be the main choice of the community on holidays such as Christmas, New Year 2024, and the upcoming Eid homecoming," he said.

He explained that the construction of the Indralaya Prabumulih Toll Road was the result of collaboration from the acceleration of construction carried out together with Hutama Karya's subsidiary, namely PT Hutama Karya Infrastruktur (HKI), and PT Hakaaston (HKA).

One of the interesting methods in the construction of the Indralaya-Prabumulih Toll Road by HKI is the girder direction using the launcher method. This method is carried out on the Kelekar Bridge area, which is quite difficult to reach by cranes. The launcher method on the direction girder is chosen because the pierhead dimension is large so it is not possible to use cranes.

"The toll roads are supported by various structural facilities such as 2 intersections, 8 overpasses, 18 bridges, 10 box underpasses, 2 box overpasses, 22 box pedestrians, 1 Toll Gate, 1 pair of Rest Area Type A, with a planned speed of 100 km/hour," said Purnomo.