Suramadu bridge project to start in August: Minister

Suramadu bridge project to start in August: Minister

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The construction of the Suramadu bridge that will connect Java
and Madura islands in East Java is scheduled to begin in August.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno
said the long-awaited bridge project worth Rp 3 trillion (US$340
million) would be funded with a foreign loan from the Chinese
government and the state budget and its construction was
predicted to take more than three years.

"The Chinese government has agreed to grant Rp 1.5 trillion as
a loan to build the main bridge, while the rest of the
construction will be financed from the state and East Java
budgets," the minister said after reporting on the project to
President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the latter's office here on
Monday.

The President is also scheduled to attend a ceremony to mark
the start of the project in August.

Soenarno explained that the bridge's construction was part of
a giant project, including the planned establishment of a
container port on Madura island and a six-kilometer toll road on
the bridge stretching from Bangkalan on the island to Surabaya,
the capital of East Java.

The bridge which will be 21 meters in width will be directly
connected to industrial zones and the Tanjung Perak port in
Surabaya and its outskirts.

According to the minister, the bridge project would need 7.85
hectares of land in Surabaya and 35 hectares on the island of
Madura. The land acquisition will be handled by the local
administration in the province.

The East Java administration and state-owned toll road
operator PT Jasa Marga have contributed Rp 300 billion each to
the bridge project which was designed in 1990.

The bridge project has been delayed several times because of
the current economic crisis. Certain Muslim groups on Madura
island have opposed the bridge project in fear that it would
create more social problems on the island.

However, last year East Java Governor Imam Utomo said that all
issues regarding the rejection of the construction had been
settled and government could go ahead with the plan.

The project will begin in Tambak Wedi subdistrict in the
coastal area of Kenjeren of Surabaya and end in Bangkalan regency
on Madura island.

The construction of the bridge is in line with the province's
plan to move its container port from Tanjung Perak to Madura
island.

The project's feasibility study and detailed design were
completed last year.

The study was conducted by experts from the ministry, the
provincial government, the Surabaya Institute of Technology and
the Pembangunan National Veteran University in Surabaya.