Development Work On Bali’s Massive Toll Road Project Restarts This Month

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Construction is set to resume on one of Bali’s biggest infrastructure projects this month.

Development teams have been given the go-ahead to recommence work on the long-awaited Gilimanuk-Medewi Toll Road, which will connect the heart of the island to the far west. 

In June 2024, further land acquisition processes will be allowed to be continued after nearly two years of delays and postponements. While land acquisition work gets underway, government officials have voiced their hopes that construction will be underway once again in September of this year.

Wayan Koster, who was Governor of Bali until the elections in February this year, has spoken to reporters about developments on the project.

Koster told the media, “The clearance process has started, and construction is expected to start in September. This is all the central governments. At the time, as governor, I only issued a determination of the location, the route, and the roads to be followed according to the results of the study from the ministry.”

The Gilimanuk-Medewi Toll Road will connect three regencies, namely Badung, Tabanan, and Jembrana. The mission is to connect the center of the island to the far west, thus improving connection from Denpasar through to East Java and beyond.

As plans show, the Gilimanuk-Medewi Toll Road will run for 96.84km and run through 50 Balinese villages. Communities and land owners are already in talks with developers about who and how people will be affected by the land acquisition for the mega-development project. 

@pensiunan_kuli Selamat datang #tolgilimanukmengwi #otwhidupsehat #Slimfitallshirt #nextproject ♬ Sahara – Hensonn

It has long been the position of Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Indonesia’s Minister for Public Works and Public Housing,  that the Gilimanuk-Mengwi toll road is a national strategic project (PSN) that must be urgently implemented.

The tender process has now been brought to a close, with the government now accessing applications and bids for the project work.

Local reports show that the work will be completed as part of the PPP scheme with a value of IDR 22.839 trillion along a 96.84 km road and a concession period of 50 years.

@wacanabali.com WoW..! Dikucur Rp24,6 Triliun Proyek Tol Gilimanuk-Mengwi Jadi Sorotan Utama Bulan ke Depan #tol #tolgilimanukmengwi #gilimanukmengwi ♬ suara asli – wacanabali

Minister Hadimuljono told reporters in Bali, “We took over. [the tender process] And now our auction has been solicited and initiated by the government. It is being auctioned by the government to get new investors who have nothing to do with the previous ones.”

“That is the condition. Hopefully, the PPJT (Toll Road Concession Agreement) will be signed at the auction in September. Once the PPJT has been signed, then construction will proceed.”

The tender and bid process had to be opened up again after previous investors failed to come up with the capital needed to keep the project moving. 

The Gilimanuk-Medewi Toll Road is not the only sizeable development project in Bali to be put back on the cards in recent weeks. Conversations about the development of North Bali International Airport have once again become a hot topic on the island.

With the incoming President Prabowo Subianto making some serious promises during his election campaign reading the development of North Bali Airport, investors and the company behind the project have started to talk publicly again about how the airport would bring benefit to the northern regions of the island.

The North Bali International Airport, which is set to be built on reclaimed off-shore land in Buleleng Regency, is set to be home to the airport itself, an aerocity, an aerotropolis, a power plant, and much more.

The next five years in Bali are certainly going to be interesting from a development perspective, and only time will tell how this will impact local communities and tourists.

As the Gilimanuk-Medewi Toll Road makes progress, North Bali Airport is back up for discussion; small but significant progress has also been made on the Bali Rail Network Project, where top Ministers have confirmed tax breaks and legislative support to keep the project moving.