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| Yudhoyono waving to the people |
The island’s first toll road, now officially called Bali Mandara toll road, has been opened to the public with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signing a commemorative plaque to mark its official opening on a hot Monday afternoon. The president and his entourage were the first to officially use the road.
Many names had been suggested for the so-called “most beautiful” toll road in Indonesia. The final choice "Mandara" is an acronym for the Indonesian words — Maju (move forward), AMan (safe), DAmai (peaceful) and sejahteRA (prosperous). The authorities are claiming that this is the fastest completion of an infrastructure project, taking only 14 months. The 12.7 kilometer-long toll road had been constructed over the sea and, in part, runs through protected mangrove forests.
Numerous academics, scholars and environmentalists had voiced serious concerns over the construction of the toll road, which deviated from its approved environmental impact analysis and badly affected both the mangroves and surrounding marine habitat. Local fishermen and nearby fishing villages also no longer have access to their previous fishing grounds.
The Rp 2.480.000.000.000 highway has been built under a public-private partnership involving seven state-owned enterprises, the Bali administration and Badung regency administration. The toll road becomes fully operational on Oct. 1. From that date, motorists have to pay to use the road. Tariffs have been set at Rp 4,000 for motorcycles and Rp 10,000 for cars, with more expensive prices for trucks. It is predicted (or they hope) that daily traffic will reach 40,000 vehicles per day, 56 percent of which would be motorcycles.