ID :
61830
Fri, 05/22/2009 - 07:18
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https://www.oananews.org//node/61830
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News Focus: GOVT SELECTING PROSPECTIVE OPERATORS FOR SURAMADU BRIDGE
By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, May 21 (ANTARA) - The government is selecting 12 applicants by a fit and proper test, and the winner will be given the task of operating the 5-km Suramadu bridge spanning the Madura Strait.
"We will ask them about the plan of the bridge and the process of the selection based on the scoring system," Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said early this week.
According to him, the applicants will have to be tested by a number of ministers before three of them with the highest scores to be declared eligible for managing and operating the bridge, and a presidential decree for the operation of the bridge will also be issued.
After the selection, perhaps there is no time to conduct a tender for toll operators and further selection would likely be carried out through a contest (like a beauty contest) of the three persons with the top scores. The winner of the contest will be entrusted with the operation of the bridge for a definite period.
The minister further said that the decision on the head of the agency in charge of the bridge still had to be made, because on June 10 the operators of the bridge and the personnel who decide the motorcycles allowed to use the bridge should have been appointed.
"It is only for a temporary period, maybe ten months pending the elected operator who has passed a tender to manage the bridge on a long-term basis," the minister said, adding: "Whoever wins the tender will have the right to operate the bridge for ten years or a certain period of time. They will also receive fees for operating the longest bridge in Southeast Asia."
Earlier, the president director of state-owned toll road operator PT. Jasa Marga, Frans S Sunito, said his company was ready to operate the bridge following the selection.
"As long as the selection is made through a tender or beauty contest, PT Jasa Marga is ready for it," he said.
As to the building of a special lane for motorcycles, he said there was a confusion on the part of the government, because motorcycles were not specified in law No 38, 2004 on toll roads, he said.
However, it could be handled by making an exception for motorcycles, as the bridge also have special lanes for motorcycles. Perhaps the tariffs will not be the same as those for toll roads, but merely as a contribution, Frans said.
One thing that has to be taken into account is the safety of motorcycles, although motorcycles are given a special lane, Taufik Wijono, program development director of the road management directorate general of the public works ministry said.
"If the wind blowing pass the bridge travels at 12 meters per second, it is very dangerous for motorcyclists," he said.
According to Taufik, the bridge will be dedicated in June, 2009 after conducting a trial operation for two weeks.
Until now, his side still has to consider the legal aspect of the operators of the bridge, and another question would be whether the management of the bridge will be left to the state toll road management company, or decided through a tender.
The operation had to do with the company in charge of payment of electricity, while the operation will be left to a consortium of contractors, Taufik said.
The building of the bridge was planned by B.J. Habibie when he was research and technology minister under president Soeharto's New Order regime, and construction was started in 2003 under the government of Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The mega project's causeway on the Surabaya side is built by PT Hutama Wijaya Agrabudi, a joint venture between state-owned PT Hutama Karya, PT Wijaya Karya and PT Agrabudi Karyamarga.
The construction of the Madura section of the causeway is carried out by PT Adhi Waskita , under a joint operation between state-owned PT Adhi Karya and PT Waskita Karya.
The mid-section of the bridge, the most vital part of the project, consists of the approach sections and main span.
The main span is built by a consortium of Chinese contractors comprising the China Road and Bridge Corp.(CRBC) and the China Harbor Engineering Consultant (CHEC).
The approach bridge is built by a consortium of Adhi Karya, Hutama Karya, Waskita Karya, Wijaya Karya and the Chinese contractors.
Upon completion, the 5 km long bridge will be the longest in the country. It was initiated in 2003 by state-owned construction companies working in cooperation with China at a cost of Rp5.4 trillion (about US$490 million).
Atiyanto Busono, head of the task force overseeing the construction of the bridge's main span said progress had been hampered for several months by heavy rain.
"We have to stop when it is raining and in constructing the bridge's main span we have to work in close coordination with the Meteorology and Geophysics Sation at Tanjungperak port," he said.
Construction work was suspended last year due to financial problems, but resumed last December after the Export and Import Bank of China agreed to disburse additional US$68.93 million in loans.
The operators of the 16 ferries plowing the Ujung Kamal-Surabaya route, as the only available service at the moment, said they had not decided whether they would move to other ports once the bridge had been completed.
The River and Lake Transport Association has called on the provincial administration to advise the ferry operators to do business elsewhere.
"We are still seeking a fair solution or an alternative so that the ferries can continue operating to avoid financial losses to their owners," head of the Gapasdap's crossing transportation division Sonnie Mathovani said.
Head of the provincial transportation office Hary Soegiry said only seven cargo ferries would continue operating, and that the other nine would have to move to Ketapang port in Banyuwangi to ferry tourists to and from Surabaya, Sumenep and Bawean.
The chairman of the edict commission of the Indonesian Ulema Association, Ma'ruf Amin, called on all ulemas in the area to help uphold the values of Madura residents amid the threat of modernization that would follow the opening of the bridge.
"The new bridge will bring many positive and negative things onto the island," he said in Pamekasan.
Ma'ruf said the island would see major changes as it became more exposed to foreign cultures. He said all Madurese people, especially clerics, should uphold their traditional values, which he added would remain relevant even during the era of modernization.***
Jakarta, May 21 (ANTARA) - The government is selecting 12 applicants by a fit and proper test, and the winner will be given the task of operating the 5-km Suramadu bridge spanning the Madura Strait.
"We will ask them about the plan of the bridge and the process of the selection based on the scoring system," Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said early this week.
According to him, the applicants will have to be tested by a number of ministers before three of them with the highest scores to be declared eligible for managing and operating the bridge, and a presidential decree for the operation of the bridge will also be issued.
After the selection, perhaps there is no time to conduct a tender for toll operators and further selection would likely be carried out through a contest (like a beauty contest) of the three persons with the top scores. The winner of the contest will be entrusted with the operation of the bridge for a definite period.
The minister further said that the decision on the head of the agency in charge of the bridge still had to be made, because on June 10 the operators of the bridge and the personnel who decide the motorcycles allowed to use the bridge should have been appointed.
"It is only for a temporary period, maybe ten months pending the elected operator who has passed a tender to manage the bridge on a long-term basis," the minister said, adding: "Whoever wins the tender will have the right to operate the bridge for ten years or a certain period of time. They will also receive fees for operating the longest bridge in Southeast Asia."
Earlier, the president director of state-owned toll road operator PT. Jasa Marga, Frans S Sunito, said his company was ready to operate the bridge following the selection.
"As long as the selection is made through a tender or beauty contest, PT Jasa Marga is ready for it," he said.
As to the building of a special lane for motorcycles, he said there was a confusion on the part of the government, because motorcycles were not specified in law No 38, 2004 on toll roads, he said.
However, it could be handled by making an exception for motorcycles, as the bridge also have special lanes for motorcycles. Perhaps the tariffs will not be the same as those for toll roads, but merely as a contribution, Frans said.
One thing that has to be taken into account is the safety of motorcycles, although motorcycles are given a special lane, Taufik Wijono, program development director of the road management directorate general of the public works ministry said.
"If the wind blowing pass the bridge travels at 12 meters per second, it is very dangerous for motorcyclists," he said.
According to Taufik, the bridge will be dedicated in June, 2009 after conducting a trial operation for two weeks.
Until now, his side still has to consider the legal aspect of the operators of the bridge, and another question would be whether the management of the bridge will be left to the state toll road management company, or decided through a tender.
The operation had to do with the company in charge of payment of electricity, while the operation will be left to a consortium of contractors, Taufik said.
The building of the bridge was planned by B.J. Habibie when he was research and technology minister under president Soeharto's New Order regime, and construction was started in 2003 under the government of Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The mega project's causeway on the Surabaya side is built by PT Hutama Wijaya Agrabudi, a joint venture between state-owned PT Hutama Karya, PT Wijaya Karya and PT Agrabudi Karyamarga.
The construction of the Madura section of the causeway is carried out by PT Adhi Waskita , under a joint operation between state-owned PT Adhi Karya and PT Waskita Karya.
The mid-section of the bridge, the most vital part of the project, consists of the approach sections and main span.
The main span is built by a consortium of Chinese contractors comprising the China Road and Bridge Corp.(CRBC) and the China Harbor Engineering Consultant (CHEC).
The approach bridge is built by a consortium of Adhi Karya, Hutama Karya, Waskita Karya, Wijaya Karya and the Chinese contractors.
Upon completion, the 5 km long bridge will be the longest in the country. It was initiated in 2003 by state-owned construction companies working in cooperation with China at a cost of Rp5.4 trillion (about US$490 million).
Atiyanto Busono, head of the task force overseeing the construction of the bridge's main span said progress had been hampered for several months by heavy rain.
"We have to stop when it is raining and in constructing the bridge's main span we have to work in close coordination with the Meteorology and Geophysics Sation at Tanjungperak port," he said.
Construction work was suspended last year due to financial problems, but resumed last December after the Export and Import Bank of China agreed to disburse additional US$68.93 million in loans.
The operators of the 16 ferries plowing the Ujung Kamal-Surabaya route, as the only available service at the moment, said they had not decided whether they would move to other ports once the bridge had been completed.
The River and Lake Transport Association has called on the provincial administration to advise the ferry operators to do business elsewhere.
"We are still seeking a fair solution or an alternative so that the ferries can continue operating to avoid financial losses to their owners," head of the Gapasdap's crossing transportation division Sonnie Mathovani said.
Head of the provincial transportation office Hary Soegiry said only seven cargo ferries would continue operating, and that the other nine would have to move to Ketapang port in Banyuwangi to ferry tourists to and from Surabaya, Sumenep and Bawean.
The chairman of the edict commission of the Indonesian Ulema Association, Ma'ruf Amin, called on all ulemas in the area to help uphold the values of Madura residents amid the threat of modernization that would follow the opening of the bridge.
"The new bridge will bring many positive and negative things onto the island," he said in Pamekasan.
Ma'ruf said the island would see major changes as it became more exposed to foreign cultures. He said all Madurese people, especially clerics, should uphold their traditional values, which he added would remain relevant even during the era of modernization.***
