ENTIKONG (BINA MARGA) - Director General of Highways, Arie Setiadi Moerwanto visits work on the construction of the Kalimantan border parallel road in West Kalimantan (11/19). During the one-day visit, Arie was accompanied by the Director of Road Development, Achmad Ghani Gazali, the Director of Road Network Development, Rahman Arief, and the Head of the XI National Road Center (BBPJN), Sugiyartanto and his staff.

This large project, which was initiated since 2014, encompasses the work of the 856 KM Kalbar border parallel road which is divided into 12 segment corridors. The corridors are Temajuk - Aruk (90km), Aruk - Seluas (78km), Seluas-Entikong (84km), Entikong-Rasau (99km), Rasau-Sepulau-Sintang (99km), Sintang-Nanga Badau (43km), Nanga Badau-Lanjak (46km), Lanjak - mataso (26km), Mataso-Tanjung Kerja (56km), Tanjung Kerja-Putussibau (37.84km), Putussibau-Nanga Era (37km), Nanga Era-Bts. East Kalimantan (158Km).

The construction of this parallel road begins with the clearing of the forest (land clearing). According to the Director General of Highways, in 2016 of the 856 KM plans for the construction of new parallel border roads, 188.61 KM of them were still forested or not yet land clearing. The unfinished segment is, Nanga Era-Bts. East Kalimantan is 152km long, 20.85km-wide, Entu-Entikong, 8.55 km-long Rasau-Sepulau-Sintang, and 6.85 km-long Temajuk-Aruk.

"At the end of 2017 we will reduce (the road that has not been penetrated) to 107.31 Km (the remaining 20%) and the rest in 2018 will have all gone," said Arie. But Arie explained that even though the road works were already translucent, most did not yet get asphalt pavement but only in the form of soil or aggregate (stone material). Asphalt pavement will be prioritized in areas that already have settlements while the use of aggregates is used in areas that still need to increase their daily traffic (LHR).

 "In 2018 we will try to make everything functional in the sense that we can pass up to East Kalimantan," Arie explained. According to 2016 condition data, Bina Marga targets the parallel road conditions to be asphalt 289.3 KM, Aggregate 93.66 KM, and 278.2 Km. While in 2017, roads with asphalt pavement become 306.9 KM, aggregate 101.92 KM, and Land Road are 330.18 KM. The addition of dirt roads in 2017 due to the opening of the forest will be a new road.

In the construction of this border road, Director General of Highways Director General of Highways said that his party would continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Environment to take care of forestry licenses. He acknowledged that the biggest challenge in developing this parallel road was fulfilling aspects of environmental friendliness.

"We are still optimistic about our work. Related to national parks and other forests, we have made an MoU with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, "explained Arie.

Fiscal Year 2016 the government allocates funds for the construction of West Kalimantan Border Parallel Road in the amount of Rp. 300 billion and has been absorbed 70% (through 667.39 Km). As for the border access road, Rp. 350 billion. "So access (border) is very important so that we don't lose to neighboring countries. We have to admit that the Malaysian road network is better, "Arie said.

The target for completion of forest land clearing is still being adjusted to forestry licensing. In addition, Bina Marga and KLH also while making guidelines and technical instructions for the construction of roads that pass through the national park.

In addition to the status of the forest, there are several other obstacles in building this border road, namely limited data relating to remote development locations so detailed surveys and measurements are needed. Furthermore, the availability of materials that can be used as sub-grade road construction. "Not all regions have good material besides the difficulty of transporting asphalt material," Arie said.

On the same occasion, the Director of Road Development, Achmad Ghani Gazali said that BBPJN XI would pay attention to the condition of the road that had been opened. "Then if we will indeed leave (road conditions) unpaved or aggregated maybe within a month or two the grass and vegetation will have grown. It must be considered together how what we build is no longer damaged, "Ghani explained. (ian)