Indonesian high-speed railway project on track despite COVID-19

The development of the China-built Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) project is continuing to advance amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia following changes in safety and health procedures at the construction sites.

At all the HSR's project sites, everybody, particularly workers, must go through temperature checks regularly before entering the site. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are also being conducted on-site for the virus.

Hilal Riselianto, a construction safety officer at the Tunnel No 10 located in Padalarang, a sub-district in the West Bandung district, has not returned to his home in West Java's city of Sukabumi since the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia in early March.

At least 200 workers on the Tunnel No 10 project have been staying in dormitories after work to protect themselves from being infected by the virus.

"Workers who are not feeling well will immediately be taken for a health check," Riselianto told Xinhua in Padalarang.

"As for newly recruited workers, they are required to go through rapid tests and to self-quarantine for 14 days before starting to work," he added.

Riselianto, who conducts a toolbox talk, an informal meeting focusing on safety topics every morning, never forgets to remind all workers of social distancing measures.

"Workers must keep a distance of at least one meter apart," he said, adding that they must also wash their hands with sanitizers before and after their shift.

He added that every day each worker on the Tunnel No 10 project is provided with two masks and other materials to ensure their health and safety at work.

The Tunnel No 10 project is a single 1,230-meter long tunnel with double lanes undertaken by the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC).

Riselianto said construction has been making good progress despite the tighter health and safety protocols.

"The construction process is going smoothly despite COVID-19. The work schedule has not been disrupted, while workers are being kept healthy," he said.

Latest data released by the Indonesian government showed the total cases of confirmed COVID-19 in the world's fourth most populous country increased to more than 70,000 on Thursday. The coronavirus has claimed some 3,400 lives across the country.