What a Rising Indicator Concealed: Road Condition and Delivery Under Fiscal Contraction
Keywords:
road asset management, pavement condition, irrigation performance, spatial planning implementation, performance indicatorsAbstract
Infrastructure agencies under fiscal pressure are usually assumed to deliver less. This article examines a case where the assumption fails and something more consequential occurs. Central Java Province lost 19.51 per cent of its tax revenue in 2025 following a statutory reassignment of vehicle taxation, and total expenditure fell 12.19 per cent. Capital expenditure nevertheless rose 3.60 per cent and the provincial road programme rose 103.5 per cent, while reported road soundness rose from 91.46 to 94.01 per cent. Disaggregating the physical data shows what the composite indicator concealed: between 2022 and 2024 the network in Good condition fell by 425.64 kilometres, from 83.60 to 64.94 per cent of length, while the Moderate category rose from 8.89 to 26.53 per cent. Soundness improved through migration out of the Damaged classes rather than through structural improvement. The gains were funded from within the sector: coastal protection and check dams received no allocation in 2025, against IDR 30 billion in 2024; one of 108 irrigation schemes is in good condition; and none of the seventeen strategic areas has a detailed spatial plan. Composite condition indicators reward the least durable form of intervention, and the bias is strongest when budgets are constrained.References
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