INDONESIA PLANS DERAILED

Joko temporarily halts all elevated transportation projects after deadly accidents

ASTRING of fatal accidents is threatening to derail Indonesia’s relentless infrastructure drive ahead of the Asian Games, a push seen as a key to revving up growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

President Joko Widodo — who is counting on the construction advance for his 2019 re-election bid — temporarily halted all elevated transportation projects, after a dozen major accidents killed five and injured dozens more in recent months.

The stoppages include construction of Indonesia’s first light rapid transit (LRT) and parts of a mass rapid transit system.

The LRT in Palembang — which is co-hosting the Games with Jakarta — is supposed to be operating by August when millions of visitors are expected to arrive for Asia’s premier multi-sport event, amid concerns that not all venues will be completed in time.

Joko halted work shortly after a high-profile accident on an elevated toll road project, here, left seven workers severely injured last month.

The stoppage comes after a balcony collapse at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building this year resurrected concerns about lax construction standards.

Endemic corruption, red tape, and mismanagement have left many projects mothballed or neglected for years. But the president has made infrastructure development the centrepiece of his economic growth strategy for the vast archipelago nation.

Joko has ordered the completion of 1,000km of new toll roads, 3,200km of railway track, 15 new airports, two dozen seaports and 33 new dams and power plants capable of producing some 35,000 megawatts of power, enough to supply electricity to about five million people by 2019. His plans have won applause. But there were now serious concerns that the speed and scope of some projects was leading builders to cut corners on safety, said experts.

“We have never seen Indonesia building on this kind of massive scale,” said Mushanif Mukti, a senior official at the Association of Construction Safety and Health Experts. “They seem to rush without adequate capacity ... looking for compromises to get around tight time limits.”