VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of National Development Planning and head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Suharso Monoarfa, and Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad observe the landing point for the construction of the Batam-Bintan bridge on Friday (April 23, 2021) (Ogen) - 

The Indonesian government will only provide Rp3.4 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 on Friday.

"The government will only bear the (cost of) construction of the 2,134-km bridge from Kabil, Batam City, to Tanjung Sauh," he said.

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 added.

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, he added.

"The bridge will be built under a public-private partnership scheme," he said.

The politician from the United Development Party (PPP), who also heads the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said he is optimisticthat 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.

"Hopefully, the construction of the bridge may be started before 2024," he continued.

Monoarfa said he believes 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//ANT