Road access traffic problems for mining and plantation products in Jambi and the surrounding area require wise and coordinated solutions. Central and regional governments must work together in finding the best solution that takes into account the interests of the local community and the business world. The government must find a win-win solution for both parties concerned.
Win-Win Solutions for Road Traffic Conflicts
According to Joko Siswanto, a public policy observer at Sriwijaya University, the policies taken must pay attention to the interests of society and the business world. The policy must be comprehensive and well coordinated.
“There needs to be a win-win solution in handling this problem. The government must pay attention to the interests of the community, but also must pay attention to the interests of the industry,” said Joko Siswanto.
Improving the Quality of Road Infrastructure
According to the Director of Road Development at the Directorate General of Highways of the PUPR Ministry, Satrio Sugeng Prayitno, the government continues to try to improve the quality of national road services. This is done to improve connectivity between centers of economic growth, such as industrial and tourism areas.
“The Ministry of PUPR continues to make efforts to preserve national roads to maintain their condition,” said Satrio Sugeng Prayitno.
National Road Preservation Activities The Ministry of PUPR through the Jambi Province National Road Implementation Center has budgeted IDR 440.89 billion for activities to handle national road preservation. This budget allocation is needed to achieve the target of 100% stability on the national road Sarolangun-Tembesi-Muara Bulian-Jambi City-Talang Duku.
Coal transport trucks that cross national roads with overload and over-dimension (ODOL) conditions require a larger budget allocation. The budget for the preservation of national roads in the 2023 fiscal year reaches IDR 533 billion.
While on TA. In 2023, the budget for the preservation of this segment is only IDR 85.43 billion. In addition, the results of the 2020-2022 Average Daily Traffic (LHR) survey on the National Road sections traversed by coal transport show that there has been an increase in the number of vehicles by 197.85%.
These two things are a number of reasons why the level of stability of the National Road section traversed by coal transport in Jambi has not been maximized.