Asian Insider

Infrastructure wars: Indonesian govt won't let Covid-19 derail much-needed projects

Indonesian president Joko Widodo (in orange) on the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road. PHOTO: INDONESIA'S MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING
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SINGAPORE/JAKARTA - Steep inclines and sharp turns have become a thing of the past for motorists on Indonesia's Sumatra island after the first highway there opened last September.

Travelling 360km on a completed stretch of the highway - between the busy Bakauheni seaport in the southernmost province of Lampung and Palembang city - took 10 hours, or six hours shorter than on normal roads.

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