Australia supports road safety in Indonesia

Australia’s support for Indonesia to address serious road safety issues is highlighted in a new book launched today by Australia’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP.

About 40 000 people are killed on Indonesia’s roads each year and the number of deaths is expected to climb with road use.

Mr Albanese joined Indonesia’s Minister of Transport, Freddy Numberi and Indonesia’s Minister of Public Works, Djoko Kirmanto, in Jakarta to launch the book “Making Indonesia’s Roads Safer”.

Mr Albanese welcomed the close cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, saying road safety is a significant issue for both countries.

“If nothing is done it is expected Indonesian road fatalities will soon climb above 50,000 every year – that’s an extraordinary number and comes at a huge human and economic cost.” Mr Albanese said.

“Together we can work towards making Indonesia’s roads safer, saving lives and cutting the economic toll at the same time.”

The book describes Australia’s road safety support to Indonesia, including funding for Indonesia’s first Road Safety Engineering Unit. The Unit is training engineers and will audit roads for risk factors, improve road design and signage and remove roadside hazards.

The road safety work builds on a long history of cooperation between Australia and Indonesia to improve infrastructure, including bridge and road construction and the current upgrading of key national highways.

Media Enquiries only:
Mia Salim, AusAID Public Affairs, (021) 2550 5490 / 08121070237
Rendy Djauhari, AusAID Public Affairs, (021) 2550 5386 / 08111904823