Naming of key road boosts UAE, Indonesia relations
Both countries have been naming landmarks after leading national figures
Indonesia on Monday named one of its strategic highways after Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
The move was in response to the UAE in October renaming a street in the Emirati capital after President Joko Widodo.
The Indonesian road given the crown prince’s moniker connects the capital Jakarta to key industrial zones in the West Java province. “The president instructed the Minister of Public Works and Housing Basuki Hadimuljono and I to officiate the renaming of this 36-kilometer elevated toll road, which is the longest in Indonesia,” said State Secretary Pratikno during the roadnaming ceremony attended by UAE Ambassador to Indonesia Abdullah Salem Obaid Al-Dhaheri.
Hedy Rahadian, the ministry’s director general for roadworks, said the renaming of the toll road
Jalan Layang MBZ Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed followed an official decree issued on April 8.
Widodo inaugurated the elevated route in December 2019, more than two years after its construction began in July 2017.
The road passes through the capital’s satellite cities of Bekasi and Cikarang in neighboring West Java province, where residential areas and industrial zones flourish.
The elevated highway, which cost state-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga 16 trillion rupiahs ($1.1 billion) to construct, is reserved for private vehicles traveling long distance, with nearly 200,000 cars using the road every day.
It was constructed over the existing Jakarta to Cikampek toll road, which is always congested with container trucks, inter-city buses, and private vehicles, making it one of Indonesia’s busiest roads and an economic lifeline. Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis told Arab News that naming the toll road after the crown prince signified increasingly strong ties between the two nations.
“It is in honor of the leadership of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in bringing closer relations between the two countries and further indicating the strong brotherhood between Indonesia and the UAE,” the envoy said. Al-Dhaheri said that his country extended its “highest gratitude and appreciation for naming this very strategic and vital street after the name of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces.”