- ANTARA/HO-Istimewa
Bengkulu – The Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Friday inspected road infrastructure repairs carried out on the Kerkap-Tanjung Agun Pali road in North Bengkulu district.
His visit was aimed at ensuring that repairs of road infrastructure, namely national, provincial, and district roads, had started on time.
"Regarding damaged roads, specifically in Bengkulu province, the national road was damaged 10 percent, provincial 40 percent, and district road 40 percent as well," the Head of State said through the statement released by the Presidential Secretariat's press bureau.
Presiden Joko Widodo di Bengkulu
- Rusman - Biro Pers Sekretariat Presiden
President Widodo emphasized that the road infrastructure improvement policy is being carried out by the central government not only in Bengkulu, but also in several other provinces, with the work planned to start at the end of July 2023.
"This does not only apply to Bengkulu province. Other projects in 32 provinces will also start by the end of this month," he informed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) has started to repair the infrastructure of 8 damaged roads in Bengkulu and is open to the possibility of repairing more roads.
"For now, the budget for the PUPR Ministry to repair the damaged road is Rp327 billion, we may add more if needed," the President said.
The President then reminded local governments to focus on implementing a priority scale for budget use, including completing the provision and improvement of proper infrastructure.
"I remind regional heads to be focused on spending their budget. For example, in the first and second years, the budget can be focused to repair roads, then in the third and fourth years, it can be focused to handle economic affairs and others," he explained.
He then appealed to regional governments not to hesitate in utilizing their budget as long as it is used properly and wisely.
"The local government's job is to realize the budget, why are you afraid to spend it? I have been a mayor and a governor. If we did not steal, we do not have to be afraid to use it,"
As information, PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, State Secretary Minister Pratikno, Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah, and North Bengkulu district head Mian accompanied the President during the visit.
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