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Indonesia: Ministry to start bidding process for nine toll roads worth Rp 142.5 trillion by year-end
The Public Works and Housing Ministry is aiming to start the bidding process of nine toll road sections, with a combined length of 350 kilometers and combined investment of around Rp 142.5 trillion (US$10 billion), by year-end, a minister has said.
Minister Basuki Hadimuljono on Sunday said the government aimed to expedite the toll road bidding process to push down logistics costs, improve connectivity and provide employment opportunities in the country.
“We believe that only through improved connectivity can we increase investment on the ground and create more jobs in the future,” he said in a statement.
The proposed toll roads include the 39.2-km-long Kamal-Teluk Naga-Rajeg toll road in Banten, worth around Rp 18.5 trillion, and the 37.7 km access toll road for Japan-backed Patimban Seaport in West Java, with an estimated investment of Rp 6.36 trillion.
Other listed toll road projects up for bidding are the Cikunir-Ulujami elevated toll road section in Jakarta, stretching for 21.5 km, as well as Bali’s 95.5 km Gilimanuk-Mengwi toll road worth Rp 19.7 trillion.
Other toll roads include the Semanan-Balaraja toll road in Banten, worth around Rp 15.5 trillion. The nine projects are among 158 ongoing infrastructure projects that are funded through the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, worth around Rp 1.3 quadrillion, which are currently in either the transaction, preparation or planning process according to the ministry’s document.
The government has long made efforts to reduce the stubbornly high logistics costs in the country and reduce price disparities among the country’s many islands. The country’s logistic costs stand at 23.5 percent of the country’s GDP, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in September.
Earlier this year, the government stated that it would offer six toll road projects, including the Patimban toll road and the Cikunir-Ulujami elevated toll road, with a combined value of Rp 80.5 trillion to investors this year, while it planned to auction the projects in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, according to the ministry.
The ministry has wrapped up the bidding of the Solo-Yogyakarta-New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) toll road in Central Java and Yogyakarta, spanning 93.25 km with an investment value of Rp 28.58 trillion, as well as a 75.82 km toll road connecting Yogyakarta and Bawen, Central Java.
The ministry plans to build 2,500 km of toll roads by 2024, it stated.
The ministry has also vowed to expedite the preparation process for seven PPP infrastructure projects worth Rp 76.3 trillion, which are planned to enter the early transaction phase by the first quarter of 2021.
“In 2021, we will start the procurement process for six roads that span 208.7 km and a drinking water system project. If everything goes smoothly, we could execute the process for all listed projects,” the ministry’s infrastructure financing director general Eko “Heri” Djoeli Heripoerwanto said in an online press conference on Nov. 11.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/11/16/ministry-to-start-bidding-process-for-nine-toll-roads-worth-rp-142-5-trillion-by-year-end.html