Padang – The role of government in ensuring the success of development projects is crucial. This means that the government must be present among the people in order to provide the best possible services.

This message was conveyed by Endang Setiawan, head of the Padang Class II Railway Engineering Centre (BTP Padang), during a visit by Ajie, Media Polri's representative for West Sumatra. He emphasised that the government should indeed be present in the community.

"As regulators, we need to understand what is happening in the regions where we work, what the problems are and what is needed so that we can provide the best services to the people," he said.

As the technical implementation unit of the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA), Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenhub RI), which is based in the region, BTP Padang has a more in-depth role because it interacts directly with the public. As such, it is expected to anticipate and address existing issues.

"For example, the issue of railway crossings in several areas in West Sumatra, which have become a major cause of traffic congestion on main roads. In order to solve this problem, it is clear after conducting field surveys that many stakeholders need to be involved as these level crossings are located on national roads," he added.

Setiawan also mentioned that improvements have already been made to the railway infrastructure in collaboration with other stakeholders. In the future, they will propose the best anticipatory measures for the progress of railways in West Sumatra. "I hope that with continued cooperation like this, the problems related to railways in West Sumatra can be solved quickly," he concluded. (RAH)