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THE Indonesian government will only provide IDR3.4 trillion for the construction of 2,134 km of the 7,685-km bridge linking the islands of Batam and Bintan, Minister of National Development Planning, Suharso Monoarfa, disclosed recently.
“The government will only bear the (cost of) construction of the 2,134-km bridge from Kabil, Batam City, to Tanjung Sauh. Due to insufficient funds, the government will offer the project for the construction of the remaining 5,561-km stretch of the bridge, starting from Tanjung Sauh, Buau Island, to Bintan, to private companies,” he said.
He explained that thus, the 7,685-km bridge, touted as a national strategic project, will be built if investors are ready to build the remaining 5,561 km of the bridge. The bridge will be built under a public-private partnership scheme.
“I optimistic that the construction of the Batam-Bintan bridge will kick off in 2022 or 2023. The central government is in the process of finalizing the detailed engineering design (DED) of the bridge and will issue a tender for its construction, Monoarfa added, but refused to divulge the auction value of the project,” he noted.
Monoarfa said hopefully, the construction of the bridge may be started before 2024. I believe the bridge will have a significant impact on regional and national economic growth.
Meanwhile, Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad estimated that about seven thousand vehicles would ply on the bridge every day. [antaranews]
