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.