The public works ministry will lead an inter departmental team to audit spatial proposals to streamline overlapping policies and plans, tackling the bottlenecks now hampering infrastructure projects.
The result of the audit will serve as a basis for the formulation of a presidential decree that would give the central government authority to intervene in solving policy conflicts on spatial planning amongst regional governments.
Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said Thursday many regional spatial master plans (RTRWs) were based on inaccurate data, which resulted in inept policies that hampered public and private investment in infrastructure.
Djoko, who was recently inaugurated for his second term as public works minister, said that the government would review the feasibility studies of all regional spatial plans and harmonize them with the national master plan as part of his 100-day program.
“Many RTRWs have used old data, or invalid information that may mislead regional development plans,” he said during a media briefing at his office.
The government, he said, is planning to begin the construction of the Selat Sunda Bridge stretching 40 kilometers, connecting Sumatra and Java by 2014 at the latest.
The bridge can only be constructed properly if supported by valid spatial plans and data from all the affected regions, he said.
“I am targeting to form a national team to manage all the issues related to the construction of the bridge, like the environment, finance, durability, and safety,” Djoko said.
The team, consisting of representatives of all related institutions, will finish the pre-feasibility study and then conduct an advanced feasibility study, within the next five years.
Newly inaugurated Public Works Deputy Minister Hermanto Dardak added the team was expected to come up with a concrete design and physical construction plan. “We hope the team can finish it before 2014,” he said.
Hermanto also said he was actually considering another infrastructure option to connect the two islands, namely a tunnel.
“So far, a bridge is the most feasible structure to connect the two islands both technically and financially,” he said.
“Another reason why we prefer a bridge, for now, is because it can be both a tourism attraction and a unique landmark for our country,” he said.
The Sunda Strait Bridge would be the longest bridge in the country, beating the Suramadu Bridge that now connects Java and Madura.
The minister’s 100-day program also includes a plan to implement “performance-based” contracts for roads and highway projects.
“With this kind of contract, construction contractors will take responsibility not only during the construction phase, but until a certain period of time after the road becomes operational, like five or ten years,” he said.
This kind of contract could prevent constructors from changing materials with lower quality ones to earn more profit, he added. (bbs)
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