goodmorningpapua.com – The greatest reason why the construction of roads and bridges in Papua is so hard makes many people curious. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is indeed aggressively promoting equitable development in a number of regions in Indonesia.
Several programs to support the development of remote areas are also being promoted, one area that is getting attention is the Province of Papua.
In 2021, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) continued to be committed to realizing reliable infrastructure development in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Other than that, it aims to reduce the high poverty rate and reduce the expensive index and equitable distribution of infrastructure development. However, development in Papua seems to have encountered a number of obstacles that are quite difficult to overcome.
In fact, the Head of the National Road Implementation Center (BPJN) of West Papua Province, Directorate General of Highways, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, Gunadi Antariksa, admitted that the building of roads and bridges in Papua was quite difficult.
“The challenges in the construction of road and bridge infrastructure in Papua include weather conditions and the nature is still in the form of forests with quite heavy geographical conditions, in almost all segments,” he said in an official statement.
This is different from the relatively smooth construction in several areas, for example the construction of a bridge in Pekanbaru, Riau, and the construction of a permanent bridge in Luhuang, Padang Pariaman Regency.
Besides, the PUPR Ministry is building 29 bridges on the Merauke-Sorong section, Teluk Wondama Regency, West Papua Province. This bridge is part of the continuation of the Trans-Papua Road program which will open up isolated areas.
Not only that, this development is also carried out to improve connectivity between districts or cities in the province.
Overall, the length of the bridge is 511.5 meters and was built with a budget of Rp.236.5 billion in the 2022 Fiscal Year (FY) through 6 work packages.
Gunadi also said, in addition to the bridge, the PUPR Ministry will continue the construction of the Merauke-Sorong Trans Papua Road in Teluk Wondama Regency. The road construction includes:
- Muri – Kwatisore Road is 8.5 kilometers long,
- Simpang Goro – Kampung Muri Road along 20.28 kilometers long,
- Mameh- Windesi Road is 9.3 kilometers long, and
- Mameh – Windesi Intersection Road for 11 kilometers long