‘Everything will be evaluated’: Indonesia suspends infrastructure projects after string of accidents
There have been 14 in the past six months, with the latest incident resulting in seven workers being injured
Indonesia has suspended the construction of elevated infrastructure projects, including rail and roads, after a series of accidents raised questions about the safety of a government drive to upgrade transport networks.
Minister of Public Works and Housing Basuki Hadimuljono, who is in charge of infrastructure construction, on Tuesday said the government would suspend all construction of elevated infrastructure.
“Design, equipment and standard operating procedures will be evaluated. Everything will be evaluated,” he said, adding that President Joko Widodo had requested the action.
When Widodo came to power in 2014 he outlined a need for US$450 billion investment in infrastructure by 2019 to help cut high logistics costs holding back Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
Under the drive, a series of projects ranging from a subway in traffic-clogged Jakarta to seven new airports and thousands of kilometres of roads are being built, often by state-owned enterprises.
“We hope with such supervision, any negligence, errors in erecting such components that support the constructions are fully supervised one by one,” Widodo said on Tuesday.
