Prepare Additional 10 Rest Area Points On The Jakarta-Semarang Toll Road Route, Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya: Private Sector May Get Involved

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi said the government plans to build 10 additional rest areas or rest areas on the Jakarta-Semarang Toll Road.

Furthermore, Budi said that the rest area facilities were needed so that the community would be more comfortable during the Lebaran homecoming trip. In fact, according to Budi, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) also highlighted this in a limited meeting (Ratas) evaluating the 2022 Lebaran homecoming.

"In detail, we will ask the developer to provide at least 10 rest areas with a quantity and quality qualification that is better than the current one," Budi said in a virtual press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Tuesday, May 24.

Later, Budi continued, the government will prepare 100 hectares of land for the construction of the rest area. Where each rest area is 10 hectares.

Budi said the government also opened up opportunities for the private sector to build a rest area on the Jakarta-Semarang Toll Road. "The functions of the 10 rest areas do not provide a return in the short term. Therefore, we will propose to the Minister of Public Works to make it a land bank. If the developer doesn't want it, we can give it to the private sector to invest there," he explained.

Consider vacant land

According to Budi, the construction of the 10 additional rest areas is due to the consideration of vacant land around the Jakarta-Semarang Toll Road. Moreover, the land along the route is not problematic.

"About the rest area points, we propose that from Jakarta to Semarang first because there are no certain things that are a problem. So we noticed when we drove to Semarang or from Semarang to here it seemed that there were still a lot of vacant lands. ," he said.

Furthermore, Budi said that if the acquisition was carried out on these lands, it would certainly provide benefits for the developer. So, later it will become a profitable property integrated with toll roads.

"Actually when we talk about property, property business, toll roads cannot be separated from rest areas where there are commercial areas. It is a business space that allows them to get upside or price increases at certain times but also provide services to the community, " he said.