METRO PACIFIC Tollways Corp. (MPTC), through its unit PT Margautama Nusantara (MUN), is allocating P80 billion to construct a 21-kilometer elevated toll road in the Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR), the company’s top executive said.
“It is a ring road. We are building 21 kilometers. It is the most congested area,” PT Nusantara Chief Operating Officer Joko Santoso told reporters on Monday.
JORR is a 65-kilometer toll ring road in Jakarta, Indonesia divided into sections, Mr. Santoso said, adding that the full stretch of the ring road reaches 560,000 daily traffic.
This new project being developed by MPTC’s unit in Indonesia will be known as the JORR Elevated Toll Road and will extend from Jatiasih in East Jakarta to Ulujami in South Jakarta.
“If things run smoothly, we anticipate breaking ground by the second half of next year,” he said.
The infrastructure project is now at an early stage, with the construction expected to commence next year and will take three to four years to complete, Mr. Santoso said, adding that the company is finalizing the project’s technical preparation.
“Well, actually, we submitted the basic design and with that actually, we already have some indication of the number of the total contract and cost and investment,” he said.
The company said it is also cautiously crafting the project’s detailed engineering design to ensure minimal disruption to the traffic flow considering the area is highly congested.
“We are working on detailed engineering designs that minimize the impact on existing contractors and ensure traffic safety,” Mr. Santoso said.
The elevated tollway project is expected to provide relief to the current traffic situation within JORR, which is part of the Trans-Java toll road.
To recall, MPTC, together with its subsidiaries and Singapore’s GIC Pte. Ltd., a global institutional investor, have finalized their investment cooperation valued at $1 billion for the acquisition of a 35% stake in PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol (JTT), a major toll road operator in Indonesia.
PT Nusantara Infrastructure owns infrastructure concessions in both the western and the eastern portions of Indonesia. It operates businesses in transportation, toll roads, communication, and distribution networks.
MPTC is the tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.— Ashley Erika O. Jose
