President Hopes Research Will Provide Solution To Transportation

Tangerang, Banten (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo expressed hope that research can provide solutions to transportation problems besides food and energy issues.

"With 17 thousand islands, two-third of Indonesia's area is water. If we visit all our provinces and islands, we will see how severe are some of the problems we are facing in the transportation, food, and energy sectors," the President noted while attending the National Innovation Forum 2015 at the Technology and Science Development Center here on Monday.

In the transportation sector, he stated, research is needed to decide the most-efficient transportation means for air corridors and sea lanes."Research is important for the sector. For the air field, we need to know the kind of airplanes that can efficient fly from one island to another and from one province to another. We have to know what type is needed and whether medium or small transportation will be better," he added.

He remarked there are several aircraft, including N219, N245, and R80, that have to be assessed to find which one will be the most suitable. In the maritime sector, the President observed, Indonesia should know the correct type of ships that can be developed in the country itself.

"I have often made it clear that the problem of transportation has created huge disparities. This applies to the prices of goods such as cement and food. Cement price, which is about Rp60 thousand to Rp70 thousand, could reach Rp2.5 million in Papua," Jokowi, as the President is popularly known, pointed out.

He stressed that all these problems can be overcome with the help of good researches. "Therefore, our focus ahead are on the maritime and aviation sectors besides the food sector," the head of state affirmed. (WDY)