President Prabowo Targets Completion of 3,000 Bridges by Early 2027

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto has targeted the completion of 3,000 bridges across all regions of Indonesia by early 2027. This target focuses on the most needy locations to support public mobility, particularly in areas affected by disasters. Prabowo stated that the need for thousands of bridges came from reports by the Bridge Task Force (Satgas Jembatan), which was specifically formed to restore three provinces in Sumatra following floods and landslides. “Insha’Allah, by early 2027, 3,000 will be completed. All provinces,” Prabowo said during a discussion with journalists and experts in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, as quoted from Kompas TV’s YouTube broadcast on Friday (20/3/2026). Prabowo revealed that, based on the task force’s reports, there are approximately 3,000 urgent points requiring bridge repairs or new constructions. According to him, the existence of hanging bridges is crucial, while their costs remain below the village fund allocations provided by the central government. In the discussion attended by several senior journalists and observers, Prabowo touched on the village budget, which reaches Rp 1 billion per year. He explained that a 100-metre hanging bridge typically costs around Rp 800,000,000, so it can be paid in instalments using village funds over several years. “Say, for 100 metres, at most Rp 800 million. And they receive Rp 1 billion for one year. So they can pay it off in 3 or 4 years for a good bridge,” said Prabowo. The President admitted he was moved to accelerate this development after seeing a video sent by a child from Nias named Yemisa Zebua. In the video, Yemisa requested help for a bridge because the usual school access route had been cut off. That request has been fulfilled by the state at the beginning of 2026. Learning from Yemisa’s case, Prabowo ordered his subordinates to ensure there are no more damaged bridges hindering children’s access to school. He emphasised that he does not want to see children crying anymore due to uneven development in remote areas.