REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Sumatran provincial administrations have urged the central government to speed up the development of the Trans Sumatran toll roads, the Chairman of the All Sumatran Governors Forum said.

The forum also urged the central government to issue a presidential regulation (Perpres) and assign a state company (BUMN) to manage the toll road projects.

North Sumatra Governor Gatot Puja Nugroho in his capacity as the Chairman of the Sumatran Governors Forum said on Thursday that the construction of the Trans Sumatran toll road project must be carried out quickly.

"Among the various agreements that have been reached, there are some that are the responsibility of the central government. It has to carry out the construction soon and towards that end it also has to appoint a state firm to execute the project," Nugroho stated.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of the North Sumatra Legislative Assembly (DPRD) Kamaluddin, pointed out that the people of North Sumatra felt that their developmental interests were given second priority, which was also reflected in the gap existing between development in Sumatra and Java.

"Java's development has been saturated and its population has continued to increase. If Java is still given developmental priority, then people living outside Java will continue to go there, which would create more problems on the island," he said.

The Head of South Sumatra's Regional Development Agency (Bapeda) Yohannes Hasiholan Toruan suggested that in order to stem population growth in Java, the Sumatran toll road projects must be developed soon, so that balanced economic development can take place.

"If the central government continues to delay the development of the Trans Sumatra toll roads, the provincial governments in all the Sumatran provinces can step in provided the central government grants us the permission to do so. Therefore, the central government must be serious in developing the toll road projects soon," he said.

Yohannes reminded that the project should be given to a state-owned company, which already has the experience of constructing a toll road and building various other road infrastructure.

Yohannes and Kamaludin hoped that the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would drive the commencement of the Tran Sumatra Toll Road Project by the end of December, 2013. Thus, the groundbreaking ceremony for its construction could be held during the beginning of 2014.

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