President To Lay Cornerstone Of Bridge Project In Jayapura

Jayapura, Papua, May 21 (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to lay the cornerstone to market the start of work to build a 700-meter long bride in this capital of Papua province. "According to plan, the president will lay the cornerstone for the Hamadi-Holtekamp bridge project in August," Deputy Mayor of Jayapura Nuralam said here on Tuesday. A meeting held on Friday last week between the city authorities was to discuss job description, Nuralam said. The budget for the project, however, is yet to be discussed with the City Council, he said. The bridge, which will be 9 meter wide is 700 meter long but altogether with road to be built the length would be 1.8 kilometers, he said. The bridge will provide link between the main roads leading to the are sharing border with Papua New Guinea. Nuralam said the project will benefit the people of the Muara Tami district where the bridge is located. There will be new market center and other public facilities to be built along the road, he said, adding, the land price would certainly increase. He said 66 percent of Jayapura is part of the Muara Tami district but the population of that area is not up to 10 percent of the city population. He said in principle, the local people have no protest against the project. Most people approved the plan at a meeting held earlier including with chiefs of the tribes. He said he hopes the road and the bridge is given the status of national road that the maintenance cost is covered in the state budget. The city administration has no fund to pay for the maintenance cost, he said.