Industry in Kalimantan Gets More Interconnected, Runs More Smoothly

Kalimantan is going to have its first toll road soon, extending 99.35 kilometers connecting Balikpapan and Samarinda. The toll road is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, so it can be used by the beginning of 2019. It is hoped that the construction of the toll road can help industry to run more smoothly.

The Trans Kalimantan Toll Road is managed by PT Jasamarga Balikpapan Samarinda (JBS), a subsidiary of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk. The toll road itself will be built in two sections.

Section 1 consists of Package 1 (25.07 kilometers) and Package 5 (11.09 kilometers). In section 2, the project is divided further into three packages: Package 2 (23.26 kilometers), Package 3 (21.9 kilometers), and Package 4 (17.7 kilometers).

However, the toll road construction is not without challenges. Problems arose during land acquisition, especially in Package 4. Moreover, in Section 2, the toll road must pass the area of Taman Hutan Raya Bukit Suharto, a protected forest, thatpeople still utilize.

At the face of the challenges, various efforts are carried out to accelerate the construction so that the benefits can be enjoyed soon. Coordination has been done to support the acceleration of the project.

"Massive acceleration and construction are proven by the positive progress of the development. Until the beginning of February 2018, 48.48% of the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road has finished construction," JBS President Director Arie Irianto said, as quoted from Detik Finance news portal, Tuesday (February 6).

As of February 1, 2018, he continued, 90.67% of the land needed had been acquired. It meant that the acquisition would be finished any time soon.

The Trans Kalimantan toll road is projected to slash down logistics costs by cutting travel distance by 34 kilometers. Travel time is thus reduced from three hours to only one hour.

Furthermore, the toll road, that drew Rp9.97 trillioninvestment, is hoped to boost the development of industrial areas in both towns and along the toll road. Industries there are usually based on palm oil, coal, agriculture, and oil and gas.

Other than infrastructure, the industries also need transportation support for their business development, especially because they need special kinds of vehicles that cost quite a lot.

Not only these vehicles are expensive, but the maintenance also costs a lot. To increase efficiency and avoid getting befuddled by other costs, industries can rent vehicles from trusted providers such as TRAC.

TRAC, a subsidiary of PT Serasi Autoraya (SERA) under Astra, offers high-quality service to fulfill the need for transportation, including for agricultural and mining industries.

TRAC provides various types of vehicles in prime condition, supported by professional drivers. TRAC also has Transportation Management System that makes vehicle use more efficient and measured.

The industries no longer need to arrange their transportation need so that they can focus on developing their core business. With the support of a trusted transport service provider and good infrastructure network, industries can thus maximize their business development.