Government halts all elevated projects

PROYEK INFRASTRUKTUR - JAKARTA. The Public Works and Housing Ministry has halted all elevated road projects following a string of construction accidents.

“We discussed  the matter with Minister [Basuki Hadimuljono] this morning. The first instruction from him is to halt all elevated projects until contractors and [developers] submit in detail their working and monitoring methods to prove whether they’ve done the job properly,” said the ministry’s roads development director general, Arie Setiadi Moerwanto, on Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning, pier head formwork on the Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu (Becakayu) toll road collapsed in Kebon Nanas, East Jakarta, hitting seven workers. All of the victims are reportedly in critical condition and undergoing treatment at UKI Hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta.

Arie said the possible cause of the accident was failure to cast the mold. Hence, the ministry plans to evaluate all projects to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future.

“We don’t know how long the evaluation will go on but we will gather all the data we need and provide a detailed release as soon as possible along with remedial measures,” Arie added.

The construction of the 11-kilometer toll road had been halted for around 20 years before resuming in November 2014. The project is being carried out by state-owned construction company Waskita Karya with a contract value of Rp 7.23 trillion (US$532.9 billion).

In the first week of February, a girder launcher collapsed at the construction site of a quadruple railway track project in Matraman, East Jakarta, killing four workers and injuring five others. (Winda A. Charmila)