Tiptoe Through the Mangrove

Bali Project to Build 14.5 km Toll Way Between Denpasar and Nusa Dua Gaining Steam.

Bali News: Tiptoe Through the Mangrove
(12/4/2010) As reported by balidiscovery.com [See: Ring Around the Traffic Jam] five state-owned corporations have expressed an interest in helping Bali overcome traffic congestion by constructing an elevated highway connecting Nusa Dua and Denpasar.

Jakarta Globe suggests this ambitious plan may be moving ahead, quoting Suratto Siswodiharjo, president commissioner of Bali Airport managers Angkasa Pura I: "The project has been agreed to be in the form of an elevated road over the sea and mangrove forests. The tender will be conducted in early January 2011 and the permit from the Forestry Ministry has already been obtained."

It was also revealed that the project will be built by Jasa Marga with involvement by contractor Wijaya Karya, Perusahaan Pelabuhan Indonesia III and the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC). All the partners and participants in the project are state-owned companies.

The proposed road will stretch 14.5 kilometers traveling on a road platform suspended 4 meters above an environmentally protected mangrove forest.

Cost of the project is put at US$222 million.

Made Mantra, President Director of BTDC, told the press that the new road: "will not damage the mangrove forests in Denpasar or those in the Badung district (near Nusa Dua). Only about 100 square meters of these forests would need to be cleared."

Backers of the road project hope to have the construction completed by 2013 in time for a major Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum to be held in Bali.

Source : Bali Discovery Tours