Indonesian Govt to Use Israeli Technology to Build Roads in Papua

JAKARTA - To make infrastructure cost more efficient, the government will utilize advance technology from Israel to build roads in the country’s most eastern  province of Papua, an official has said.

Chief expert of the Presidential Unit to Accelerate the Development of Papua and West Papua (UP4B) Doddy Imam Hidayat said on Tuesday that the harsh terrain in Papua would require the government to import the advanced know-how from several countries, particularly from Israel.

“Related authorities have issued permits for the use of the technology and manpower from Israel,” said Doddy.

“With the technology, we don’t need to spend money for road hardening. A certain chemical substance imported from Israel will be used to ensure the road is hard enough for cars and trucks for a long period of time”.

The government has targeted to construct at least 290 kilometers of roads, which are mostly new access routes to connect remote areas in Papua at a cost of below Rp 900 billion (US$90 million) for this year’s budget, according to the UP4B.

A presidential decree has been issued in May, which authorizes the lndonesian Military (TNI) to deploy more than 700 soldiers from the Army’s engineering detachment to do the work under cooperation with the Public Works Ministry. [TheJakartaPost]