Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono together with Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, reviewed the progress of the Palembang-Indralaya Toll Road (Palindra) Section I construction of the Palembang-Pemulutan section which is one part of the Trans Sumatra Toll Road, Wednesday (5/24). When reviewing the development, Minister Basuki emphasized that at the time of Lebaran homecoming this year, the Section I Palindra Toll Road section from Palembang to Pemulutan could be functional to be passed by travelers and had not yet been charged toll rates or free.

"Specifically for the Palindra Toll Road, with a total length of 22 km, we will function the width of the Lebaran 12 km from Palembang. In November 2017 it is targeted to have been fully operational to Indralaya," said Minister Basuki.

Palindra Toll Road Development until now continues to be accelerated, one of which is targeted to support the implementation of the 2018 Asian Games. Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani said the Palindra Toll is not only an infrastructure supporting the Asian Games, but also advancing the community's economy.

Sri Mulyani added that the Palindra Toll Road is part of the Trans Sumatra Toll Road from Lampung to Aceh which is on the east side of Sumatra Island for 2,800 Km. This toll road has three fins to connect the activity centers on the West and East sides of Sumatra Island, namely Palembang - Bengkulu (one of which is the Palindra Toll Road), Pekanbaru - Padang and Medan - Parapat - Sibolga.

According to the Managing Director of PT Hutama Karya Gusti Ngurah Putra the funds needed for the eight trans Sumatra toll roads that were built by the government through assignments to PT. Hutama Karya in the amount of Rp. 83 trillion. Of this amount, funds from company equity amount to around Rp 50 trillion, while the rest will be met from loans.

The Palindra Toll Road construction consists of three sections, namely section I of the Palembang - Pemulutan section, Section II Pemulutan - KTM and section III KTM - Simpang Indralaya, which began in 2015 and currently the overall construction progress has reached 50.61%. PT. Hutama Karya (Persero) became the executing contractor with a contract value of Rp 2.63 trillion.

Minister Basuki added that the construction of the Palindra Toll Road requires special construction techniques because the development land is dominated by peat swamp areas. In order to speed up the toll road construction process, Vacuum Consolidation Method (VCM) technology is applied to reduce water content and soil moisture content.

"Here the land condition is almost the same as Wiyoto Wiyono Toll Road or Airport Toll Road
Soekarno - Hatta in Jakarta, built on swamp land. As an illustration, in the Palembang - Kayuagung section, 77 km long, 37 km of which have a thick layer of peat. Even 10 km from 37 km the thickness of the peat reaches 8 m. For this condition, we use special technology with piles to reach the hard layer below, "said Minister Basuki.

Regarding the use of the VCM system itself, the work can be completed in 4 months faster than conventional methods, namely the vertical drainage system through Perforated Vertical Drain (PVD) which takes one year. Another plus is the need for soil material as a temporary burden. In addition, the use of minimal resources such as the use of heavy equipment. Land consolidation / subsidence is also isotropic so that the risk of slope instability can be reduced.

In addition to Palindra Toll Road Section I, Minister Basuki also revealed that a number of Trans Sumatra toll road sections that will be functional in Lebaran June 2017 are Medan-Binjai Toll Road Section 2 Helvetia-Semayang along 6.18 kilometers (km) and Section 3 Semayang-Binjai along 4.28 km and Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar Package 2 (Sidomulyo-Kotabaru) Lematang-Kotabaru segment along 5.025 km.

Meanwhile, for other Trans Sumatra Toll Roads that will be completed in 2017, including the Palembang-Indralaya 22 km, Bakauheni Terbanggi Besar Package 1 (Bakauheni-Sidomulyo) the Bakauheni-Bakauheni Port Segment along the 8.90 km and Medan-Kualanamu- High Cliff along 61.7 km.

At present, the government through the Ministry of PUPR continues to increase the length of toll roads in Indonesia to facilitate distribution and reduce logistics costs for goods and services. One of the toll road developments that is currently being accelerated is the Trans Sumatra Toll Road.

Accompanying Minister Basuki were Director General of Highways Arie Setiadi Moerwanto, Director General of Water Resources (SDA) Imam Santoso, Head of the Tery Toll Toll Road Regulatory Agency, Head of the National Road Implementation Agency (BBPJN) Region V Zamharir Basuni, Head of the Regional Hall Sungai Sumatera VIII (BBWSS VIII) Jarot Widyoko and Head of the Public Communication Bureau Endra S. Atmawidjaja. (Birkom / Jay / Gt)