Controversial Straits of Malacca bridge project revived
The controversial 48.69km-long Malacca-Dumai, Indonesia, bridge project across the Straits of Malacca has been revived after being abandoned for the past seven years.
According to The Star, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said finer details of the project, linking Teluk Gong in Malacca to the port of Dumai in Sumatra, would be disclosed once all mechanisms were in place.
“The project was discussed during the 10th Chief Ministers and Governor’s Forum of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle convened in Koh Samui, Thailand on September 12,” said Idris yesterday.
If implemented, the bridge which is located at the busiest international shipping waterway, would be the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge.
Insights on a feasibility study on the bridge undertaken by Strait of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd were given during the meeting.
The company had earlier appointed the Hunan Provincial Communications Planning, Survey & Design Institute of China to prepare documents pertaining to the study.
The Star reported that the idea of the bridge was mooted in 1995 to foster new economic opportunities, especially in trade and tourism, between the two countries.
However, this died down during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
In 2005, the then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam restored interest in the project by saying that the groundwork for it had started and that studies showed the bridge was technically feasible.
He also announced that the Export-Import Bank of China had agreed to finance 85% of the link’s total cost, which was then estimated at RM44.3 billion.
The proposal was submitted to the Economic Planning Unit with details on how the bridge would stimulate economic activities between the peninsula and Sumatra.
The plan, however, received strong objections from various quarters including environmentalists and Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
According to Indonesia afternoon daily Suara Pembaruan, the president said, during a visit to Germany in March this year, that four years earlier he had turned down a request from Malaysia to support the construction of the Malacca Strait Bridge because the construction of such a bridge would facilitate the depletion of resources in Sumatra "by Asia". – October 16, 2013.
