Bali toll road construction to begin next month

DENPASAR. After months of delay, the construction of a toll road connecting Serangan, Benoa and Nusa Dua will commence in December.

Sumaryanto Widayatin, the deputy state-owned enterprises minister for logistics and infrastructure, said that everything was ready to start the project, with the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled to take place on Dec. 21.

“We’re finalizing the bidding process and it will be completed within two weeks. We will start construction on Dec. 21,” he said in the sidelines of ministry meeting in Nusa Dua.

He said the project, worth Rp 2 trillion (US$218 million), was expected to be completed within one year, several months ahead of the island hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in November 2013.

The 11-kilometer toll road will connect South Denpasar and Nusa Dua through Serangan, Benoa and Ngurah Rai International Airport. It is expected to ease the traffic congestion that grips the island’s main tourism route.

Severe traffic jams have became commonplace along the Ngurah Rai Bypass, the only highway that connects the island’s international airport with primary tourist destinations such as Nusa Dua, Sanur, Denpasar and Ubud.

The 50-kilometer drive from the airport to Ubud at one time took only an hour to complete. These days, however, travelers would be lucky to finish the trip in two hours.

Part of the toll road will be built above the sea. “We have proposed the preliminary design to the Bali administration, and they have agreed with it,” Sumaryanto said.

The project was delayed for months due to funding problems. Initially, the project was estimated to cost Rp 5.5 trillion and was to be conducted through a public-private partnership.

However, after two unsuccessful bidding processes the government sought a loan from Korea or China before a consortium of state-owned enterprises then declared that they were ready to handle the project at a reduced cost of Rp 2 trillion.

The project will be financed by credit from state-owned banks and from the consortium, under a mechanism called project financing.

“We will use only local resources, including human resources and construction materials so that we can keep the budget down,” Sumaryatin said.

There are seven companies in the consortium: PT Jasa Marga Tbk, PT Pelindo III (the operator of the Benoa ferry and fishing harbor), PT Angkasa Pura (the operator of Ngurah Rai airport), PT Bali Tourism Development Corporation (the operator of Nusa Dua tourism enclave), PT Wijaya Karya, PT Adhi Karya and PT Hutama Karya.

The toll road will also occupy 1.5 hectares of mangrove forest, which has been approved by the Forestry Ministry, the authority holding the certificate for forest management. (Desy Nurhayati/ The Jakarta Post)