Madura bridge project may be delayed
Madura bridge project may be delayed
JAKARTA (JP): The development of a six-kilometer bridge connecting Surabaya and Madura scheduled to commence in August may be postponed because the land acquisition process is far from over, a minister said yesterday.
State Minister for Agrarian Affairs/Chief of National Land Affairs Board Soni Harsono said it was unlikely that the complicated land acquisition process could be completed in five months.
"If they cannot complete the land appropriation as scheduled, the project may have to be postponed," Soni told reporters after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission II on home and agrarian affairs.
About 2,000 hectares of land will be needed to build the bridge and industrial estates in Madura and Surabaya. The project is part of the government's effort to industrialize Madura.
The land developer, PT Dhipa Madura Pradana, has not acquired all the land needed for the Rp 400 billion (US$180 million) project, according to the Surabaya-based Jawa Pos daily.
Director of the developer, Achmad Dawaki, said that his company would begin the land appropriation on March 20, and start the project in August.
The bridge, tipped to be Southeast Asia's longest, is intended to facilitate the relocation of industries from overcrowded Surabaya.
It took the government years to convince Madura residents that the project, initiated by Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, would benefit them.
Many of Madura religious leaders, well-known as devout Moslems, opposed the project for fear that the accompanying industrialization could destroy the island's cultural values.
About Rp 330 billion ($150 million) of the money needed to build the bridge comes from a loan with the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation and Fund.
Soni said that his office has not issued the "principle permit" that is needed by the project to acquire the land. He added that the permit will be issued only after the management has the results of the analysis on environmental impact of the project.
"It seems that they (project management) are eager to start but without permits from the relevant agencies. If anything goes wrong in the future, such as what has happened in the development of northern Bandung, my office will be made the scapegoat," he said. (29)