Socio-economic impact and outcomes on the first build of the Trans-Sulawesi Railway

Sulawesi has been recognised as a key economic corridor by successive governments of Indonesia under national development plans.

The building of the Trans-Sulawesi railway aims to address some of the challenges around connecting key cities, towns, ports and rural areas so that people and businesses have more opportunity. The rail infrastructure is also seen as a way to lift the overall living standard and improve socio-economic conditions.

This report examines communities near the first constructed section of the railway line from Parepare to Makassar. It is expected that the lessons and insights from this report can be applied elsewhere as the rail construction continues.

Click here to read the full report about the socio-economic impact of the Trans-Sulawesi Railway

The railway stations were not operative when this report was prepared so surveyed data focused on the impact on vulnerable groups during railway construction. This included the least connected regencies (Maros, Pangkep and Barru), female workers and those in agriculture, fishing and forestry being the most impacted by land reclamation. The socio-economic impacts on these vulnerable groups fell into three categories:

1. Short-term impacts of railway construction.
2. Long-term impacts after the railway became fully operational.
3. Community impacts of land reclamation.