President Jokowi Shows Sumatra Toll Road Progress through Vlog

President Joko Widodo

Pekanbaru, MINA – President Joko Widodo has released a video diary, commonly known as a video blog (vlog), about his visit to the Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road project in Indonesias province of Riau.

Based on Antara’s observation in Pekanbaru, Tuesday, the three-minute long video was released on July 31 and has been watched 31,000 times by users of the social media broadcasting platform YouTube.

In his personally recorded video, President Joko Widodo showed his view of the project, as well as photos taken from the air and his impressions towards the progress of the toll road project.

He then explained that the progress of the 131-kilometer long toll road project have reached the 47 percent mark and he hoped for the Trans Sumatra toll road program can be connected from Aceh to Lampung soon.

Through the video, the President was seen tracing the construction area and he admitted that the project itself is rather complicated, which is why different construction methods are used in its development.

“The field is very difficult indeed. This is a section with a soil with topsoil as deep as three meters, so it must be completed with different construction. On the other side there is also an are of peat soil which also has to be completed with different construction method, next to it there is a swampy soil which completion is also requires another construction method,” he remarked.

Some comments

In the middle of the video, the President asked for some comments from the country’s Minister of State Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadi Muljono and Riaus Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman, as well as a representative from PT Hutama Karya, the company chosen as the executive contractor for the Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road project.

“Yes, Sir. We will complete this project by 2019,” Minister Soemarno remarked, following the Presidents question about her readiness.

As for the Governor of Riau, he believed that the toll road will soon change the image of Riau in the future.

“Hopefully, Riau will give more contribution towards the national economy, as the operations of this toll road will provide us with a lot of opportunities to heighten our regions competitiveness,” he remarked (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)