Skip to main content

Indonesia’s Trans-Sumatra highway inches ahead

Indonesia will form a consortium of state enterprises to build all the 2,700km of the Trans-Sumatra toll highway, from Lampung to Aceh on the island of Sumatra. The finance department is also setting up special infrastructure banks to provide flexible loans for the state departments to fund the project, Indonesian media reported. Indonesia recently changed the law that had the state infrastructure company PT Hutama Karya as the only organisation allowed to build major projects. Other state enterprises can n
March 11, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSIndonesia will form a consortium of state enterprises to build all the 2,700km of the Trans-Sumatra toll highway, from Lampung to Aceh on the island of Sumatra.

The finance department is also setting up special infrastructure banks to provide flexible loans for the state departments to fund the project, Indonesian media reported.

Indonesia recently changed the law that had the state infrastructure company PT 5206 Hutama Karya as the only organisation allowed to build major projects. Other state enterprises can now invest in such projects as part of a strategy to accelerate the construction.

However, an economic and financial feasibility study is yet to be completed for the project that could cost as much as US$23 billion, said public works minister Basuki Hadimujono.

A 2k stretch is already under construction and the government hopes a 16km route around the North Sumatra provincial capital Medan will be open next year.

Sumatra is the largest island that is entirely in Indonesia and the sixth largest island in the world at 480,847.74 km2. More than 50 million people live on Sumatra, including 4.3 million living in and around Medan.

The announcements come just after the central government cancelled what would have been one of the country’s largest ever infrastructure projects, the Sunda Strait Bridge.

The 30km bridge that would have connected the islands of Sumatra and Java at a cost of around $23 billion. The structure -- a dream of Indonesia's political elite since the 1960s -- was to have three lanes of traffic in each direction, twin rail tracks and cabling for telecommunications and electricity.

But in November, President Joko Widodo, recently elected at the time, dumped the megaproject, saying it would benefit only middle class Indonesians. Instead, other options, including buying more ferry ships and upgrading shipping freight ports, will be explored to better connect the two islands.

The proposed bridge was part of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development formulated by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Howwever, it was left in limbo due to divided opinion among his ministers, especially on how the project should be funded by public and private investors.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Work underway on Indonesia’s Trans Papua highway
    September 22, 2015
    Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing plans to allocate US$415.3 million in 2016 for the Trans Papua road project. The Indonesian Government’s plan is for the link to be ready for use and connecting the whole of Papua by 2019. However in excess of $830 million is required to fund work on the entire 4,325km route. Over 10km of bridges still remain to be constructed along with 827km of roads. Meanwhile of the existing 3,498km of road, only 2,075km are surfaced with asphalt at present while 1,423km
  • Indonesia’s Trans Marga Jateng secures key new toll road loan
    April 8, 2014
    A US$415.45 million (IDR 4.7 trillion) loan has been agreed for a new 75.67km toll road as part of the Trans Java toll road project in Indonesia. Trans Marga Jateng, the 60:40 joint venture of Indonesian state-owned toll-road operator Jasa Marga and Central Java's state-owned infrastructure firm Sarana Pembangunan Jawa Tengah, has secured the 15-year syndicated loan from a group of lenders headed by state-owned bank Bank Mandiri. The new toll road will run from Solo to Semarang through Salatiga and Boyola
  • Indonesia bridge plan study
    April 26, 2012
    A two-year US$150million feasibility study has begun into plans to build a 33km bridge in Indonesia. Project planner Wiratman & Associates will co-operate with Streto di Messina of Italy during the study of the US$291.2million Sunda Strait bridge project, managed and funded by the Banten-Lampung consortium and Bangungraha Sejahtera Mulia.
  • More funding needed for key Indonesian project
    July 27, 2023
    More funding is needed for a key Indonesian road project.