TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Hadi Santoso, Member of the Infrastructure Commission of the House of Central Java, said the collapse of Comal bridge in Pemalang was a form of neglience from the Ministry of Public Works. "It shows neglience from the central government," Hadi Santoso told Tempo.
Comal Bridge, connecting Pemalang and Pekalongan, collapsed on Friday. Prior to the incident, the bridge's joints had first collapsed in June. The bridge had also shown signs of ground lowering in February.
Hadi said to have warned the authority on upon such concern. However, the treatment given was simply regular measures. "The bridge belongs to the state, therefore Central Java Bina Marga cannot do more," he said.
A routine monitoring mechanism could prevent the incident from happening, said Hadi. "The time from February to June is more than enough to restructure the bridge, preventing it from collapsing."
ROFIUDDIN