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

  • Indonesian toll road projects moving ahead
    February 1, 2016
    Indonesia’s toll road expansion programme is continuing to grow. Bidding is commencing for three toll road projects; the 83.9km Serang-Panimbang route in Banten, the 58.6km Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumdawu) route in West Java, the 29.3km Legundi-Bunder route in East Java.
  • Colombia: PPP for motorway between Cesar and La Guajira
    March 11, 2015
    In Colombia, the Council of Ministers has given official approval to a fourth public-private partnership (PPP), this time for a motorway between Cesar and La Guajira. The 350km road, costing an estimated US$151 million, will connect San Roque with Cuestecita, take four years to build and employ around 1,400 workers. The announcement comes Columbia’s National Infrastructure Agency said it will help finance construction of the Toyo tunnel in Antioquia. The tunnel, nearly 10km-long and costing almost $765, wil
  • Indonesia reaches out to private firms for projects in Madura
    August 11, 2017
    The Indonesian government is courting private investment and encouraging bids for major projects on Madura, an island off the northeastern coast of Java, another island. Madura is part of the East Java province and is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura. The first project would be a 15.3km toll bridge costing likely around US$160 million which would allow access to a planned port, said Herman Hidayat, acting head of the Surabaya-Madura Development Agency.
  • Highway developments to boost east-west transport
    February 16, 2012
    Huge highway developments are being planned and carried out to further improve East-West transport, with Central Asia a key region as Patrick Smith reports