Jakarta Withdraws it Support for the Sanur-Serangan-Tanjung Benoa Toll Road.
(11/1/2008) Efforts to construct a toll bridge connecting Sanur and Nusa Dua via Serangan Island have just been complicated further by the withdrawal of financial support by the central government, leaving the people of Bali to find their own funding for a project estimated to eventually cost US$151 million.
According to NusaBali, an initial commitment of Rp. 5 billion (US$500,00) from Jakarta to help pay for initial infrastructure support prior to the main construction phase, has now been withdrawn, leaving Bali to shoulder alone the entire financial burden of constructing Sanur-Serangan-Tanjung Benoa tollway.
Complicating Bali's situation even further is that, in anticipation of Jakarta's support, funds have already been spent to secure land from local property owners and begin the groundwork for feeder roads. Replacement funds must now be found from other sources to pay for expenditures already in progress.
According to NusaBali, no allocation for the toll way was included in the 2009 provincial budget, despite recommendations that Rp. 50 billion (US$5.1 million) be allocated in each year's budget to allow the project to proceed on an installment basis. The lack of funding, on both a local and national level, places the Serangan bridge toll way project increasingly in doubt.
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