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Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The year 2012 will be an historic one for Indonesia as a bridge over the Sunda Strait will then begin to be built to link the islands of Sumatra and Java.

Construction of the bridge is projected to start early or in mid-2012, a National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) official said here Tuesday.

"We estimate, it can be started early or in the middle of 2012 so it can be completed in 2017 or 2018," Deddy Priatna, Bappenas deputy chief for facility and infrastructure affairs, said after a coordination meeting at the office of the coordinating minister for economic affairs on Jalan Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta.

However, the construction of the bridge over the Sunda strait needed various preparations, including the making of a feasibility study and the bridge`s design.

"It will take around 1.5 years to complete the feasibility study, while the design of the bridge will be completed in 2012," Deddy Priatna said.

According to him, the team in charge of the Sunda Strait Bridge Development had already been formed on the basis of a Presidential Regulation (Perpres).

"But a working group must also be formed in accordance with a coordinating minister for economic affairs` decision which is expected to be issued next week," Deddy said.

Commenting on the funding of the project with a loan from China, Deddy said the loan of US$10 billion was a very big amount.

"It is a very big amount for the government to bear while in fact the project is supposed to be funded through a partnership between the government and the private sector," he said.

In the past, the government was reported to fully support a plan to build the Sunda Strait Bridge (JSS) which will link Java and Sumatra islands, a minister said.

"The government fully supports it. Therefore, the government wants the bridge to be built based on a precise and accurate plan," former State Minister for National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Paskah Suzetta said.

The bridge was expected to ensure smooth transportation of goods and people from Java to Sumatra vice versa and to encourage economic growth on the two islands, he said.

He said the government would try to find other funding sources than the state budget to finance the project.

"(The funding sources) may come from a partnership between the government and the private sector. But if that is not possible the project can be funded through a business-to-business scheme," he said.

Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah during her Ramadhan safari in Banten last October, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had also thrown his weight behind the project.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had called for the immediate implementation of an in-depth feasibility study on the proposed construction of a bridge over the Sunda Strait to link Java and Sumatra islands.

"A careful feasibility study should be made immediately. If it is possible from the economic and geographic points of view to construct the bridge, we can go ahead with this major development project," Lampung Governor Sjachroedin ZP quoted the president as saying at the peak event of a program to mark the 27th World Food Day at Way Halim square last December.

Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said on a separate occasion the government was really serious in planning the construction of the Sunda Strait bridge.

Djoko Kirmanto said the decision on the formation of working team had yet to be signed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa.

"The team will prepare the plan, study its feasibility in detail," Djoko Kirmanto said.
The planned Sunda Strait Bridge mega-project, connecting Java and Sumatra, would carry a double-track railway, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa was quoted by Kompas.com as saying.

"So, it won`t be just a highway," he said.

Hatta, who chairs the National Team for the Sunda Strait Bridge construction project, said the government would also lay underwater cables and fiber optic cables across the strait.

A pre-feasibility study conducted by construction firm PT Bangungraha Sejahtera Mulia, a subsidiary of Artha Graha Network, found that the 29-kilometer bridge would cost up to Rp 100 trillion (approximately US$10.75 billion).

When operational in 2025, the bridge would stretch from Anyer in Banten to Bakauheni in Lampung. It would also pass over the Sanghiyang, Prajurit and Ular islands in the Sunda Strait.

Under the current plan, the bridge would also have six lanes for four-wheel vehicles and two single lanes for motorcycles.

Hatta said that he would invite the governors of Banten and Lampung to discuss the project next week.

The idea of constructing a 29-km bridge over the Sunda Strait must be realized because such a bridge will smooth the economic linkages and flows of goods between the two big islands, a Transportation analyst, H. Sirojudin, said.

The plan to build the bridge was a step forward in efforts to intensify economic activities on the two islands. "So far, people and goods are being transported between the two islands by ferry boats but this mode is often affected by such things as bad weather," he said.

In 2002, more than 19,000 tons of goods from Sumatra were distributed to Java through the Sunda Strait. In addition, more than 25,000 people and 6,000 vehicles are aboard ferry to cross the strait per day.

The bridge will shorten the journey to and from both islands to 30 minutes, compared to the usual three hours. (*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli

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