Minister Basuki: Infrastructure Development Refers to Green and Sustainable Principles

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Infrastructure development has become one of the government development priorities of President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to catch up to improve national competitiveness and even distribution of development. In its implementation, infrastructure development must also be environmentally friendly and sustainable so that the benefits can be felt by future generations.

"The principles of environmentally and sustainably based infrastructure development are the commitment of the Ministry of PUPR starting from the survey, investigation, design, land acquisition, construction, to operations and maintenance (SIDLACOM) stages," said PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono when giving scientific speeches at the XVIII Sarwono Prawirohardjo Memorial Lecture (SML) event to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Jakarta, Thursday (08/23/2018).

In an effort to minimize the negative impact of infrastructure development on the environment, Minister Basuki said that the environmental carrying capacity must be carefully calculated and optimizing the development of all available potential areas. For example, some provinces on the island of Kalimantan do not have enough broken stones in good quantities.

"To overcome this condition, various local material-based technologies are developed in infrastructure development, including the use of sandbase asphalt foundation layer as a road body foundation, light embankment with the main sand material for the road body above soft soil. Another example is the use of palm trees as housing construction materials, "explained Minister Basuki.

In environmental restoration, the Ministry of PUPR is currently revitalizing lakes, ponds, natural or artificial water reservoirs that experience sedimentation problems and water hyacinth growth, including revitalization of Lake Rawa Pening, Lake Limboto, Lake Tempe and Lake Tondano. Revitalization activities were also combined with activities designed to reduce the rate of sediment input into water reservoirs, such as in the Wonogiri Reservoir, Wlingi Dam and Batujai Dam.

"Reducing sediment in the water reservoir will provide additional volume of water. The benefits are the same as the construction of a new dam or reservoir, with social problems and costs that can be much lower.

In urban areas, the Ministry of PUPR has improved river water quality such as Cikapundung River restoration in Bandung, East Canal Flood in Semarang and environmental pollution control due to the smell of Sentiong River using Bioremediation Technology.

"To control the tidal flood in the city of Semarang, it will be handled through the construction of the Semarang - Demak toll road which is integrated with the construction of the sea dike," he said.

The environmentally friendly cities are also encouraged by the Ministry of PUPR by building green open spaces, public spaces, including the construction of botanical gardens with LIPI. In addition to these examples, the Ministry of PUPR actively encourages the construction of Green Buildings and Green Roads in various locations in the country.