TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Public Works and People's Housing Minister Basoeki Hadimoeljono said that about 40 percent of bridges in Indonesia are in poor condition, mainly because they are old. Of all the bridges that are in poor condition, Basoeki said that 10 percent of them are heavily damaged.
"Our bridges are tens of thousands of meters long if connected, 40 percent of them are in bad shape," he said yesterday in a seminar at Diponegoro University in Semarang, as quoted by Antara.
He said that the Ministry is working with the Japanese government to repair damaged bridges. According to Basoeki, the cooperation covers not only the management of bridges, but also other infrastructure, such as dams.
"I have asked them to monitor this; as they have the technology to monitor old bridges," Basoeki said.
Meanwhile, Japan's director of international cooperation and engineering for infrastructure Yusuke Amano said that Indonesia and Japan have many similarities in terms of infrastructure. With Japan's experience, Yusuke said, they are ready to help improve and maintain the existing infrastructure in Indonesia.
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