SBY Records First 100 Days In Concrete

Jakarta Globe, Irvan Tisnabudi & Antara, January 26, 2010

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, accompanied by the Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, receive an explanation of highway construction during the official opening of a toll road in Cirebon on Tuesday. (Antara Photo)

Hard-pressed to show results during the first 100 days of his second term, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono shifted gears on Tuesday, jumping on a train to inaugurate 10 state-backed infrastructure projects in five provinces.

In remarks at a ceremony at the Mertapada toll gate in Cirebon, West Java, which is part of the 35-kilometer Kanci-Pejagan toll road, he said he expected the completed projects, together worth Rp 3.8 trillion ($406.6 million), to boost economic activity in their provinces.

“Please use this infrastructure facility properly, because it has cost a huge amount of funds belonging to the people or the state, although the private sector has also invested in it,” he said.

The toll road is to be run by a unit of the Bakrie group, led by Aburizal Bakrie, head of the Golkar Party.

The other completed projects included a flood-control dam in Medan; the Amplas flyover in North Sumatra; the Oerip Sumahardjo overpass in South Sulawesi; the Benel dam in Bali; the Cilaki bridge in West Java; public housing in West Java and Central Java; and several water-treatment plants.

Some analysts praised the government for pushing through some of the bigger infrastructure projects, given their expected boost to the local economies. Others said the inauguration had a “political motive” of boosting the president’s image at the 100-day mark.

“I think the official opening of the 10 projects was overdue, especially for some of the schemes, such as the Kanci toll road, which could have been opened early this month,” said Juniman, an economist with PT Bank Internasional Indonesia.

Construction of the Kanci-Pejagan toll road began in 2008. It is intended to reduce traffic jams on Java’s northern coast between Cirebon and Brebes in Central Java. Juniman said its completion would help Yudhoyono’s cabinet boast that it had achieved a lot in its first 100 days, which end on Thursday.

But the slow pace of land acquisition, a chronic problem, was delaying other needed infrastructure projects, he added. Chief among them was the planned Trans Java Toll Road linking Jakarta and Surabaya, which will include 780 kilometers of toll roads.

The Kanci-Pejagan road is the first segment of that route to be inaugurated this year.

Eric Alexander Sugandi, an economist from Standard Chartered Bank, said that “by having the president inaugurate these projects, it will increase their legitimacy in the public’s eyes.”

“I think the projects that will have the most significant impact on the economy are the roads, because it will make distribution of goods and services easier, thus lowering inflation,” he said.

The Rp 935 billion dam project in Medan will help control flooding caused by seasonal overflows in some parts of the city. The Rp 107 billion Benel dam in Bali aims to meet residential demand for water in the dry season. The Rp 124 billion Medan overpass was built to ease traffic heading to the Kuala Namu Airport, which is under construction.