Sumatra, Java to be linked in 20 years

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga is planning to build a massive bridge connecting Sumatra and Java within the next 20 years in a bid to take part in the ongoing development of toll road networks in Asia, says an official.

Jasa Marga spokesman Satria Ganefanto said that the Sumatra toll road would begin in Medan, North Sumatra and drivers would be able to go all the way the East Java city of Banyuwangi facing the tourist resort of Bali, virtually non-stop.

"The Sumatra-Java project will be connected by the ambitious plan of a Sunda Straits Bridge, similar to America's Golden Gate Bridge. We expect to finish the mega project in 20 years," said Satria Ganefanto, referring to the 1.3-kilometer suspension bridge in San Francisco. The nearest points in the Sunda Straits are about 20 kilometers apart.

Satria added that the development of the Sumatra-Java toll road was part of a grand plan for a Trans-Asia Highway connecting Indonesia to Singapore and much of the rest of mainland Asia, all the way up to South Korea.

"The plan has been discussed by toll road operators from those countries, including PT Jasa Marga, in South Korea last year," Satria said.

Satria did not elaborate on when the development project would begin. He said toll roads on the two islands will be part of the project and the government was still developing a toll road connecting Cikampek, near Jakarta, and Cirebon bordering Central Java.

PT Jasa Marga, he said, needed the full support and commitment from the government to implement the plan.

"Without government support, it will be difficult to carry out the project because it will cost a huge amount of money," Satria said.

He explained that Jasa Marga was likely to open a new tender for the development of Cikampek-Cirebon toll road due to the slow work of its three current contractors, which have yet to even finish feasibility study thus far.

"We will give them until the end of the year to finish the feasibility study. Otherwise, we will ask the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Facilities to review or cancel the project and open a new bid," he told reporters.

Satria said that the government had prioritized the Cikampek- Cirebon toll road construction since the project was re-opened last year.

The project had actually begun in 1996, with three contractors winning the bid to construct the 37-kilometer Sadang-Subang section, the 52.5 kilometer Subang-Dawuan section and the 24.5 kilometer Dawuan-Palimanan section.

But, the project was postponed when the economic crisis hit the country in 1997.

"As it has become the government's priority, the Cikampek- Cirebon toll road must be finished soon," Satria said.