Planned toll roads in Lampung, the Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar toll road and the Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang toll road, are predicted by the central bank to increase economic growth by 0.68 percent and employment by 0.44 percent.
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LAMPUNG, KOMPAS – As the gateway to Sumatra, reachable in only 30 minutes by plane from the nation’s capital, Lampung has a huge opportunity to serve as the capital’s “front yard”. It has an abundance of opportunities in agriculture, farming and fisheries, along with a wealth of beautiful tourist resources. All of these must be optimally utilized.
Bank Indonesia Lampung office head Budiharto Setyawan said that, while agriculture still dominated Lampung’s economy, its growth was slowing down. This is because agriculture businesses with lands in Lampung usually establish their main offices in Jakarta.
“Lampung’s inflation control team has a dream that Lampung’s natural resources be processed here in Lampung,” said Budiharto. He cited that rice, Lampung’s mainstay commodity, was still sold as dried unhusked rice, and often with the rice straws as well.
Planned toll roads in Lampung, namely the 140.9-kilometer Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar toll road and the 112-km Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang toll road, both of which are under construction, are predicted by the central bank to increase economic growth by 0.68 percent and employment by 0.44 percent. Once the toll roads are in operation, motorists need only between four and five hours to reach South Sumatra from Lampung. Currently, the traveling time is between eight and 12 hours.
Budiharto said local vocational schools were encouraged to provide reliable human resources to help Lampung reach its full potential. Currently, 44 percent of Lampung’s workforce are elementary school graduates.
Development in three sectors
The National Development Planning Agency’s (Bappenas) head of regional development, Rudi S Prawiradinata, said the government’s 2019 development plan included a national economic growth target of 5.4 percent to 5.8 percent. To achieve this target, Lampung’s economy must grow by 5.5 percent in 2019.
Therefore, said Rudy, Lampung would develop three main sectors to boost the local economy, namely agriculture, manufacturing and trade. Infrastructure repairs and regulatory reforms, as well as an integrated licensing system, are also on the agenda.
Nine industrial areas planned in Lampung’s Provincial Industrial Development Plan 2016-2035 are Way Pisang, Katibung, South Lampung Industrial Zone (KAIL), Central Lampung and Tulang Bawang. There are also Mesuji, West Tulang Bawang, Way Kanan and Tanggamus Maritime Industrial Zone, which is also listed as a national strategic project.
A number of seaports will also be optimized. Apart from Bakauheni port and Panjang international port, 10 other ports are in development. Farming commodities will also be developed.
Lampung Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) head Taufik Hidayat said the provincial government was preparing a regional development plan that included three clusters: industry, tourism and food security. This industrial development was based on Lampung’s mainstay commodities, including corn, cassava and rice.
However, industrial zone development remains constrained by electricity supply and infrastructure access. The Electricity Supply Plan 2015-2024 includes an electricity generating capacity increase of 961 megawatts. This is only 4.86 percent of the total increase in electricity capacity for Sumatra of 19,738 MW.
Taufik said South Lampung, Pesawaran and Pesisir Barat had beautiful beaches and waves that could be developed as prime tourist destinations.
Increase in tourism
Lampung receives an increasing number of travelers. In December 2017, the Lampung Tourism Agency noted that the province welcomed 11.7 million travelers, far more than the targeted 7 million. “Development was clearly palpable in the past two years,” Taufik said.
A report by the Asia Competitiveness Institute shows that Lampung’s ease of investment increased from rank 25 in 2016 to rank 14 in 2017.
Kompas last week found that toll road construction was accelerating. However, local roads remained damaged. Stretches of the road between Bandar lampung and Ketapang Port and of Jl. Lintas Barat Sumatera from Kaliawi, Bandar Lampung, to Krui in Pesisir Barat were not in ideal condition. Parts of the road were bumpy and narrow.
The worst conditions were found on Jl. Lintas Barat Sumatra from Tanggamus regency to Pesisir Barat regency. Jl. Lintas Barat Sumatra between Biha and Krui in Pesisir Barat was cut off in October 2017 and still has not been fixed. Traffic between Lampung and Bengkulu is disrupted as a result.
Jl. Lintas Sumatra between Bandar Lampung and Tegineneng district in South Lampung was also bumpy and full of holes. Similar conditions were also found on provincial roads between Metro city and Sukadana city in eastern Lampung. Meanwhile, the road from Sukadana to Way Kambas National Park was also not in optimal condition. It was bumpy and had holes in several places.
President’s visit
The Pisang Mas farmer group of Tanggamus, East Lampung, will be the first farmer group to receive bonded zone subcontract benefits from the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise.
The farmer group is a partner of pineapple and banana producer and exporter PT Great Giant Pineapple (GGP). As an exporter, PT GGP runs an integrated business.
PT GGP government relations and external affairs director Welly Soegiono said in a press statement in Jakarta on Monday (26/3/2018) that the customs bonded zone subcontract facility on farmers’ lands was the first such facility in Indonesia. Farmer groups partnering with GGP are the first farmer groups to benefit from the facility. “We will also present this facility to President Joko Widodo on Tuesday (27/3) on his visit to a customs event,” Welly said.
In today’s events, the President, along with Finance Ministry Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Director General of Customs and Excise Hery Pambudi, would launch an online licensing system for the bonded zone facilities. Previously, online licensing required 10 days of processing. Now, the processing time is cut down to only one hour.