Samarinda to get Rp 47b flyover

Samarinda to get Rp 47b flyover

JAKARTA (JP): East Kalimantan's capital Samarinda will have a
Rp 47 billion (US$19.58 million) flyover across the Mahakam river
by the year 2003, a local official said yesterday.

Head of Samarinda's local planning and development agency,
Mardiansyah, said the flyover would support the province's
economy when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free
Trade Area begins in 2003.

Mardiansyah said the flyover was urgently needed because the
flow of traffic and goods had increased along with the region's
industrial growth.

He said the existing Mahakam bridge would remain.

He said construction should start next year. It would be
funded by the provincial and mayoralty governments and World Bank
loans.

Mardiansyah said the provincial government would give an
initial Rp 250 million and the mayoralty would give Rp 400
million. The project had been approved by East Kalimantan's
provincial administration, he said.

Mardiansyah said the flyover would be part of the trans-
Kalimantan highway. The highway was expected to ease traffic in
along the border to East Malaysia's Sabah and Sarawak states.

Up to 3,000 container trucks travel through Samarinda each
month.

"If land transportation is not improved congestion could
affect trade," he said, reported Antara. (pwn)