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Hutama Karya to finish two sections of trans-Sumatra toll road this year

Source
Jakarta Post - September 6, 2019

Jakarta – State-owned construction company PT Hutama Karya is finishing up construction on two toll road sections under the trans-Sumatra project and planning to inaugurate both later this year.

Hutama Karya president director Bintang Perbowo told reporters on Thursday that the sections are the 185 kilometer Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang-Kayu Agung toll road and the 131 km Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road.

"President [Joko "Jokowi" Widodo] is planning to inaugurate the Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang-Kayu Agung toll road this September," said Bintang, adding that the company would start the operation of the Pekanbaru-Dumai toll around November or December.

Earlier this year, President Jokowi inaugurated the operation of the Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar section, a part of the Lampung-Palembang corridor.

The Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang-Kayu Agung toll road, which is also part of Lampung-Palembang corridor, will cut travel time from Bakauheni to Palembang from 10 to 12 hours to around four hours.

At the same time, Hutama Karya is also finishing up the Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road, which could cut travel time to one-and-a-half hours from five hours, with construction 58.7 percent complete and 96.6 percent of the necessary land acquired.

The total length of the toll road will be 2,048 km divided into four main corridors: Lampung-Palembang (358 km), Palembang-Pekanbaru (610 km), Pekanbaru-Medan (548 km) and Medan-Banda Aceh (460 km). There are also to be three priority corridors consisting of Palembang-Bengkulu (303 km), Pekanbaru-Padang (242 km) and Medan-Sibolga (175 km).

The company recorded total revenue of Rp 8.1 trillion (US$573 million) in the first half this year, a 15 percent slump from 9.6 trillion year-on-year (yoy). However, its net profit surged 79.8 percent yoy to Rp 1.1 trillion in the first half.

Bintang said that Hutama Karya was projecting Rp 2.4 trillion to Rp 2.5 trillion in net profits by the end of the year, adding that debt interest from the operation of several toll roads in the trans-Sumatra project prevented the company from aiming for a higher target.

Hutama Karya is planning to develop an industrial area in Lampung by involving the local administration and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II and plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara VII, said Bintang.

"We will be working together with Pelindo II and PTPN VII to develop a dry port in Lampung. We are preparing access from Panjang Port [in Lampung] to the dry port," he said, adding that the company sought to boost people's prosperity through the construction of toll roads. (awa)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/09/06/hutama-karya-to-finish-two-sections-of-trans-sumatra-toll-road-this-year.html

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