A series of toll road contracts worth a total of $6.6bn will be going out to tender in Indonesia.
There are six projects in total, all on the island of Java, with all to be procured using the public–private partnership (PPP) model.
The World Highways website reports that the routes in question are between Bogor and Serpong, Cikunir and Karawaci, South Sentul and West Karawang, Malang and Kepanjen road, Semanan and Balaraja and the Kamal to Rajeg route.
The toll roads are part of a wider plan to build a system of highways that will run the length of the island, based on a single main highway that begins in the coastal town of Merek in the west and ends at Banyuwangi, facing the Bali straits in the east (see map).
The aim is to take pressure of the North Coast Highway (pictured), which is presently the main link between Java’s east and west.
Eventually, the highway may be continued across the straits and on into Bali.
The tender processes will open this month and close at the end of the year.
In April, Indonesia’s Public Works and Public Housing Ministry announced that it planned to invite tenders for 14 projects under the PPP model over the course of the year. It said this was likely to include $12.7bn on projects that included roads, bridges, housing, water and waste-to-energy contracts.
John Yeap of law firm Pinsent Masons, said at the time: “These PPP projects come on the back of the establishment of a new sovereign wealth fund.
“With inter-regional connectivity so important to an archipelagic country like Indonesia, by focusing on transportation projects under the PPP model, the country will be able to increase mobility and thereby encourage economic development across a broader geographical spread.”
Top image: Java’s North Coast Highway is presently the main link between east and west (Coris/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Map: An early plan for Java’s toll road network (Gunawan Kartapranata/CC BY-SA 4.0)
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