Jayanty Nada Shofa & Fuad Iqbal Abdullah, Jakarta – It is now much easier to travel from one village to another in Indonesia compared to 10 years ago.

Since Indonesia's outgoing leader Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took the reins in 2014, the government has built roads in villages that spanned a total of 366,000 kilometers. Roads are key to a country's development especially if the government wants to achieve an "Indonesia-centric" growth that benefits people across the archipelago. It also paves the way for better mobility of goods and people in Indonesia's rural areas.

"We have built village roads with the budget that we have. People always speak of tollways whenever they meet me. But did you know that we have actually built 366,000 kilometers of village roads over the past decade," Jokowi told a high-profile business forum at Indonesia's new capital Nusantara, not long ago.

But to Jokowi, this feat is still far from enough, alluding that he wants to see an even more massive development of village roads by the incoming government.

"Indonesia is home to 74,800 villages. If we built 366,000 kilometers, that would mean we have only built between 4 and 5 kilometers. So it doesn't make sense. The construction should have been twofold of the existing figure. Roads are important for our farmers," Jokowi said.

And Jokowi was right about the impact that improved road infrastructure could bring for farmers.

The government recently finished fixing a 9.6-kilometer road that connected three villages – Wonosari, Argomulyo, and Mentawir – in the Sepaku district near Nusantara. In the past, poor road conditions had hindered development.

Local farmers struggled to sell their crops in the nearby villages. Not to mention how a badly paved road could cause transportation costs to soar. But as of March, the roads that link the said three villages have concrete paving. Gianto, a chili farmer from Wonosari, recently talked about the changes.

"Back then, we farmers struggled to sell our harvests because of the poor road conditions. Thanks to the concrete roads, it is much easier and faster to distribute crops to the neighboring villages. [Visiting the nearby villages] was an hour's drive in the past. It now only takes just 15 minutes by motorcycle," Gianto told the Jakarta Globe.

Gianto revealed that the local farmers' monthly income had even doubled following the improved road networks. Farmers used to earn around Rp 2 million (approximately $129) back then, but their income had now jumped to up to Rp 5 million.

Jokowi is set to retire this weekend. He will hand over the presidential baton to defense minister and former army general Prabowo Subianto. Jokowi is hoping that his successor will continue to pursue an "Indonesia-centric" approach.

"Indonesia is a large country, and that is why we need to push for equitable development. All parts of the country have to get the same 'slice of cake'. Not a Java-centric [development], but one that is Indonesia-centric. Development should start from the villages and suburbs," Jokowi told reporters in August.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/366000kilometer-road-a-present-from-jokowi-to-indonesias-village