MANILA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday announced that it has approved a 300-million-U.S.-dollar loan to construct approximately 72 km of disaster-resilient roads along the southern coast of Java, Indonesia, aiming to improve connectivity and spur economic development in the island’s southern regions.
According to the bank, the loan will fund a project to upgrade the existing narrow dirt road with missing links, which currently requires an eight-hour journey between agricultural areas in Jember and Banyuwangi regencies in East Java Province.
The new roads will connect these communities to economic centers and markets, reducing travel time to about two hours and improving access to services, education, and economic opportunities.
The ADB said the project employs climate change adaptation measures, including enhanced hydraulic structure capacity to mitigate flood risks, bioengineered slope protection using nature-based solutions, and climate-resilient bridges to provide alternative access during extreme weather events.
“The project will advance the country’s competitiveness and strengthen the resilience of its infrastructure. It will help balance economic development between Java’s well-connected north-central regions and the southern coast, where agricultural communities have limited road access to markets and services,” the multilateral lender said.
The project underscores gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by reserving at least 10 percent of skilled construction jobs for women and implementing comprehensive road safety programs that address the specific needs of women, children and people with disabilities, the bank added
