Jambi Governor Admits He Can't Take Firm Action Against IUP Owners Who Cause Congestion

JAKARTA - Jambi Governor Al Haris admitted that he could only unravel the congestion caused by coal transport trucks crossing the Sumatra highway. He also admitted that he could not take firm action against Mining Business Permit holders (IUP) who did not comply with the regulations.

"We are ready to unravel traffic jams with existing limited conditions. Our authority is limited as governor," he said in a Hearing Meeting with Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Wednesday, March 29.

According to him, the authority to take action against IUP owners is under the control of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).

"When the owner of the IUP insists on not complying, our lemensity cannot be sanctioned because the permits for all supervision are with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. We can only regulate and break traffic jams, others cannot," explained Haris.

He further explained that the cause of traffic jams was the significant increase in the number of coal transport trucks in recent years.

He explained, in 2021 when coal commodity prices began to increase, many IUP holders began using the National Road to transport coal because they did not have a special road.

"In the beginning there were no traffic jams because the number was still limited, but as late as 2021 the price started quite well, there began to be enthusiasts who invested vehicles in Jambi," continued Haris.

He menanjutkan, kendaraan pengangkut tersebut tidak hanya berasal dari Jambi tapi juga berasal dari wilayah lain seperti Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Sumatera Selatan dan wilayah lainnya dan berjullah lebih dari 12.000 truk pengangkut.

To overcome the congestion, Haris has coordinated with Ditlantas to regulate traffic jams and reactivate weight bridges and use hull numbers for vehicles to curb vehicles crossing the national road. However, in practice there are many illegal transport vehicles outside of registered coal transporters.

"It turns out that the hull number is also not orderly because the number of games is exploding every day, we can't handle it anymore, so there is traffic jams on the route," concluded Haris.