Creativity Key for Regions’ Survival

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Signs still hang in front of a closed salted egg shop on Wednesday (13/6/2018) along the northern coastal road (Pantura) in Brebes regency, Central Java. The shops started closing last year when part of the Trans-Java toll road opened. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) along Pantura, such as the salted egg businesses, went bankrupt when motorists switched to the toll road.

SURABAYA, KOMPAS – The Jakarta-Surabaya toll road that will stretch 745 kilometers in 2019 is believed to contribute to regional economic growth. The areas the toll road passes through should be able to take the advantage of the opportunity from increased connectivity.

Creativity, such as by creating new economic sources, is key for local administrations to maintain economic activities along the older roads.

According to a Kompas Research and Development survey, the opening of the Cikopo-Palimanan toll road (Cipali) on June 14, 2015 has contributed to a fall in economic activities along the northern coastal highway (Pantura). The number of houses and food stalls along Pantura such as in Losari district, Brebes regency, Central Java, dropped from 154 units in 2013 to 111 units in 2016.

Similar conditions have seen along other parts of Pantura, such as in Ulujami district, Pemalang, Central Java. The number of restaurants in the district declined from 63 in 2012 to 44 in 2016.

Cottage industries have also been affected. The number of clothing businesses have declined to 778 in 2016 from as many as 1,211 in 2012.

Nevertheless, the toll road has also had a positive impact on tourism in many areas. For example in Indramayu regency, West Java, the number of hotel guests increased by 88.2 percent in 2016 from the 2014 occupancy rate as a result of increased tourism activities in the coastal area. In fact, Indramayu can only be accessed through the Ciekdang tollgate of the Cipali toll road, which is about an hour from the center of town.

The newly operational Kertajati Airport in Majalengka regency, West Java, is located about 3 kilometers from the Kertajati tollgate on the Cipali toll road. The airport will be integrated with Patimban Port in Subang, which will be built in early 2019. The distance between the two is about 40 kilometers.

The Majalengka regency administration has experienced a positive impact from the new toll road. According to the regency’s Integrated Licensing Service and Investment Office (DPPTPM), as many as 38 companies in several areas applied for tourism business permits in 2017.

West Java’s Purwakarta regency is trying to take the advantage of the newly opened Jakarta-Surabaya toll road. The Purwakarta administration and local businessmen are trying to attract toll road users to stop in Purwakarta. The Sate Maranggi restaurant is situated about 3 kilometers from Cipali toll road’s Sadang exit gate. Aside from meals, the restaurant also provides space for local artisans and potters to sell their handcrafts. The Purwakarta administration also holds a dancing fountain show every weekend.

Meanwhile, the East Java provincial administration has introduced its Provincial Industrial Development Plan (RPIP) to take the advantage of the Trans-Java toll road. The new toll roads are expected to promote and help grow micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). East Java Regional Development Planning Agency head Budi Setiawan said on Tuesday that the Jakarta-Surabaya toll road passed many of the regency’s industrial areas, such as in Sidoarjo, Gresik, Lamongan, Pasuruan, Jombang and Surabaya. In the short to medium term, the East Java administration plans to build roads that will connect the industrial centers and MSMEs to the toll road.

"MSMEs should be helped, because their product marketing is still locally oriented. With the access to the toll roads, their products can be marketed to other cities, other provinces and even abroad," he said.

Online sales

In addition to cooperating with the toll road operators to allow MSMEs to sell their products in the toll road rest areas, the Central Java provincial administration is also training its traders to sell their products online and to use food trucks. "We have proposed a new tollgate to be opened in Pekalongan. We will set aside about five hectares of land for the construction of the tollgate,” said the Central Java SME Cooperatives (UKM) head, Ema Rachmawati.

Assistant vice president of corporate communication Dwimawan Heru at toll road operator PT Jasa Marga said they would provide an opportunity to the local people to open businesses in rest areas.

Syema, 23, a Pekalongan batik shop owner, said that her sales had dropped about 10 percent before the toll road opened, after which she saw further decline in sales. She has begun to sell her batik clothing through an online shop to offset the decline in sales. Syema sells an average of 15 pieces of batik clothing per day through the online shop.

A number of MSMEs are also marketing their products through online shops. For example, when Kompas searched for “Brebes” on Tokopedia and Bukalapak, the search results showed more than 10 sellers offering unique Brebes products through the online platforms, such as salted eggs and fried onions. When searching for Pekalongan, the search returns batik and taoco (fermented soybean sauce) products.

(IKI/ETA/RTG/DIT/JUM/KRN/BIM/STI/E01/E21)