Papua governor to restart Trans-Papua Highway construction

Papua governor to restart Trans-Papua Highway construction

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Papua | | Mon, April 15 2013
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/15/papua-governor-restart-trans-papua-highway-construction.html

Newly appointed Papuan governor Lukas Enembe says he plans to restart a neglected seven-year-old project to build highways across Papua.

“I will ask the President to continue the construction project in the hope that it can connect the whole island,” said Enembe in Jayapura on Monday.

The interconnected highways would connect seven strategic regions, namely Nabire - Waghete - Enarotali sepanjang (262 km), Timika -Mapurujaya - Pomako (42 km), Serui - Menawi - Saubeba (49 km),Jayapura - Wamena - Mulia (733 km), Jayapura - Sarmi (364 km), Jayapura - Hamidi - Holtekam - Skow - Papua New Guinea border (53 km) and Merauke – Waropko (557 km).

He predicted that the construction of roads connecting these regions would cut logistic costs significantly and thus could spur regional economic growth.

“Right now the cost of one sack of cement in Puncak Jaya is Rp1.2 million (US$ 123) because all construction materials are transported by air, and so the shipping costs are expensive. If the roads are connected, the cost could be significantly reduced,” he said.

As comparison, in Jakarta and other big cities, the price of one sack of cement is around Rp 80,000 (U$ 9).

In 2012, the Public Works Ministry allocated Rp3.6 trillion to build the Trans-Papua Highway, a project included in the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI).

The government has been aiming to build 70 percent of a total of 3,100 kilometers of national road in Papua and West Papua by 2014.

ENDS

© Scoop Media