Building bridges, connecting access to life across Indonesia

President Prabowo has simultaneously inaugurated 3,395 Garuda Bridges and Merah Putih Bridges spread across Indonesia. According to the Head of State, the construction of these bridges makes it easier for residents to connect with public facilities or health facilities, opens access to other regions, and makes it easier for children to reach their schools.

In its implementation, the construction of this connecting infrastructure was carried out by two institutions, namely the TNI and Polri. The work handled by the TNI is named Jembatan Garuda, while that carried out by Polri is named Jembatan Merah Putih Presisi. Both share the same main objective, namely to encourage the acceleration of people-centred infrastructure development at the village level and in remote areas.

The large scale of this national programme naturally raises questions about the source of the budget for the bridge programme and how much has been realised to date.