Construction Of Sumatra Toll Road To Begin In 2014

Bandarlampung, Lampung, Oct 18 (Antara) - The construction of the Sumatra toll road will begin from Bakauheni Harbor, South Lampung District, Lampung Province, in early 2014. "The construction of the Sumatra toll road will start from Lampung and end in Aceh Provice. The zero point is Bakauheni, Lampung," said Arinal Djunaidi of the Lampung provincial administration here on Friday. The initial stage of the construction will involve laying of a stretch of road from Bakauheni to Terbanggi Besar in Central Lampung District, he added. All local officials have been urged to assist in the construction of the toll road by speeding up the process of land acquisition, he stated. The construction of Sumatra toll road was stipulated in the Presidential Regulation No.86/2011 on Strategic Area Development and Sunda Strait Infrastructure, which assigned state-owned business enterprises (BUMN) as the project`s executor. Earlier, the Central government had decided to expedite the Trans Sumatra toll road project, which had been scheduled to start in September this year. "We want to speed up the construction, and it will start this year in September," Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa had said in July. Hatta had pointed out that the 2,700-km toll will comprise 23 sections, extending from Aceh province to Lampung province, including Batam.