by: Dini Wulandari
President Joko Widodo consistently promote development in Indonesia, starting from public roads, toll roads, ports to Transboundary Posts. At the end of 2018 there were quite a number of infrastructure projects that had been completed. In 2016 and 2017 the government has completed 30 national strategic projects. The project has a total value of Rp. 94.8 trillion. This is certainly not excessive if President Jokowi has built more infrastructure than the previous six presidents.
The construction of Nanga Badau National Border Crossing Station (PLBN) turned out to get serious attention so that the government has rebuilt the building to become more beautiful. Previously PLBN Nanga Badau was a shabby building with faded paint. This condition certainly makes Indonesian people who live on the border feel ‘inferior’ because the appearance of the Indonesian National Budget is very much different from the PLBN owned by the Malaysian Sarawak State which looks more modern.
But now the conditions are far different. The National Budget that was completed in 2017 is now even more magnificent. The formerly shabby building has turned into a modern and beautiful building. The PLBN building was built by carrying out the local culture of Kalimantan by adapting the shape of a typical longhouse building complete with local ornaments. With this more modern-looking building, of course people who live on the border do not need to be inferior to our neighbor. In addition to renovating the National Budget, the Government is also aggressively building toll roads, toll roads are an important access to economic growth in the area that is the destination of the toll road. One of the toll roads that has been completed is the SuMo toll road that connects Surabaya and Mojokerto, the existence of the toll road is certainly able to reduce congestion that often occurs on the Surabaya route to Mojokerto.
In addition, with the existence of toll roads, there will certainly be more investors who are looking at the place as a place of development for companies or factories. This is evidenced by the Top 3 Investment award – Existing with investment index reaching 93.29 in 2016.
In the transportation sector, Jokowi has built 10 airports, one of which is Kertajati International Airport, located in Majalengka Regency, West Java, the airport was inaugurated on May 25, 2018 by President Jokowi.
The construction of the airport will certainly accelerate trips outside the region or abroad, especially for residents of Majalengka, Cirebon, Kuningan, Indramayu, Sumedang and the areas around it.
In addition, investment will also be ensured to increase, with the airport, automatically increasing investment in the area around the airport. Especially investment from the hotel, tourism and industry accommodation sector. This certainly will be directly proportional to the increase in absorption of labor.
Indonesia is an archipelago, more than half of its sovereignty is filled with water, both straits and high seas.
Not only building tolls on land, the Jokowi Government – JK has also completed the sea highway program which is its flagship program. The construction of the sea highway is believed to have had an impact to reduce logistics costs. So that the price of goods can be reduced and make production costs more efficient.
Sea toll vessels have managed to save around 30% compared to public vessels, so transportation costs can be smaller. This makes the price of products on remote islands not much different in Java producing regions.
Not only are sea tolls effective, bridges have been built in various regions in Indonesia. The bridge that was built is a path that connects two different altitudes.
Indonesia has a unique land contour and geographical location, this reinforces the reason that bridge construction is needed. The bridge that was built was certainly not just any bridge. The bridge built is a suspension bridge built using steel structures, not just made.
One of them is the Tayan Bridge in West Kalimantan. This bridge has infrastructure that is exactly the same as the bridges in London, England.
The existence of this bridge is very beneficial, the government is also very serious in building the Tayan bridge because this project is carried out in 3 shifts so the process is very fast.
The economic impact also seemed very real, before there was a bridge, cars and motorbikes had to pay Rp 200,000. The meaning of society benefits from the existence of the bridge.
With the construction of infrastructure, it will certainly have a positive impact on MSME players in expanding the market. Economic development also not only develops in urban areas, but also in developing regions and border areas to reduce social and economic disparities.
Indonesia should be proud because the Jokowi era government has recorded a new history as the leader of the country with the fastest infrastructure development in history.
*) The author is a social media activist.
