SURABAYA – Construction of the South Coast Road (Pansela) in East Java has not yet been completed despite 23 years of work.
Referring to the RPJPD document, the length of roads that have been built is around 350 kilometers or only 55-60 per cent of the target.
Chairman of Indonesian Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) AA LaNyalla Mahmud Mattalitti assessed the construction of the East Java Pansela route or JLS (South Ring Road) which connects 8 regencies in East Java needs to be accelerated.
The existence of the road that stretches from Pacitan Regency to Banyuwangi Regency, according to him, will be able to improve the economy in the southern region of East Java.
“The construction of the Pansela Line in the East Java region needs to be encouraged as a solution to eliminate the disparity between the northern and southern regions of East Java which is indeed unequal at this time,” said LaNyalla in the middle of recess activities, Wednesday (17/4/2024).
He explained that the southern region of East Java has not maximized its contribution to economic growth.
Based on data from the East Java Bappeda, the southern region of East Java only contributed 16 per cent of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) throughout 2023.
Meanwhile, the northern region contributes 40 per cent to the East Java economy.
“[This is] despite the fact that the potential of the southern region of East Java is very large. Starting from agriculture, plantations, to the tourism sector,” he added.
Therefore, accelerating the construction of the road project that was formerly called the Southern Crossing Line or JLS must be a priority.
LaNyalla stated that land acquisition issues that are the urgency of the Regency Governments must be well coordinated with the Provincial and Central Governments.
“I hope that the project becomes a priority for the East Java Provincial Government and the Regency/City Governments under it during the leadership period of the elected regional head at the end of this year,” he said.
Pansela Road, in total, passes through five provinces namely Banten Province, West Java Province, Central Java Province, Yogyakarta Special Region Province, and East Java Province.
In East Java, the Pansela Road has a length of around 628 kilometres that will connect eight regencies namely Pacitan, Trenggalek, Tulungagung, Blitar, Malang, Lumajang, Jember, and Banyuwangi.
