Rest Areas on the Trans Java Toll Road Provides Business Space and Opportunities for Hundreds of MSMEs

JAKARTADAILY.ID – The Indonesian Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) conducted an assessment of the quality of toll road services and sustainable rest areas along the Trans Java Toll Road starting from Semarang-Surabaya to Probolinggo.

It was recorded that until July 2022, the provision of MSME facilities at the rest areas had been carried out in 117 rest areas spread along toll roads on the island of Java, which consists of 88 rest areas.

For the Central Java region, 587 MSMEs are spread out in the rest areas of the Kanci-Pejagan Toll Road, Pejagan-Pemalang Toll Road, Pemalang-Batang Toll Road, Semarang - Batang Toll Road, Semarang ABC Toll Road, Semarang-Solo Toll Road, and Solo-Ngawi Toll Road.

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Meanwhile, in the East Java region, there are 178 MSMEs in the rest areas of the Ngawi-Kertosono Toll Road, Kertosono-Mojokerto Toll Road, Surabaya-Mojokerto Toll Road, Surabaya-Gempol Toll Road, and Pasuruan-Probolinggo Toll Road.

A member of the Assessment Team, Johny P. Kusumo said that from the results of a review of the Rest area Line A along the Trans Java Toll Road from Semarang-Surabaya to Probolinggo and Pandaan-Malang, the percentage of MSMEs in the rest area reached 72 percent and 28 percent for non-MSMEs.

"The average percentage of rest area management data is 70-90 percent local MSMEs, the rest are fast food big brands. It is good to encourage MSMEs so that it can also have a positive impact on the local community's economy," said Johny P. Kusumo on Sunday, October 30, 2022.

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Furthermore, Johny P. Kusumo said that in addition to encouraging the involvement of local MSMEs, rest area managers also need to provide guidance, especially for the cleanliness of culinary MSMEs.

"Cleanliness in quality is still varied at each rest area. There is one that is no less important, there are not many culinary SMEs that are iconic in the area. Some are already good, for example in Solo there is Serabi Solo already in a rest area 519 Line A so that toll road users can get products typical of the local area with local brands as souvenirs," said Johnny.

The Sustainable Toll Road Assessment (JTB) in 2022 is carried out from September 26 to November 6, 2022, for 47 Toll Road Business Entities (BUJT), 67 toll roads, and 136 rest areas in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Bali.

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Johny said, for this year, PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono emphasized two important aspects, namely beautification and energy saving.

"Beautification assessment indicators make toll roads and rest areas look more beautiful and comfortable, multiply greenery. Besides that, it must also have an aspect of saving electrical energy, both on the toll road itself and in rest areas, for example, the lights can use solar energy," said Johnny.