JAKARTA: The Indonesian government said a new link connecting its country with Malaysia across the Straits of Melaka is not their priority at the moment, according to local media.
Bisnis.com reported that Malaysia’s proposal for the new link had not been discussed by the Indonesian government.
A spokesperson for Indonesia’s ministry of public works and housing was quoted as saying that the matter should be studied (by the Indonesian side) first so that it could be used as the basis of government policy.
“In recent years, I have never heard the ministry discuss this issue at the level of technical cooperation in the framework of Indonesia-Malaysia bilateral relations,” said Endra S Atmawidjaja.
Last week, the Melaka state government announced plans to build a 120km link (either tunnel or bridge) from Masjid Tanah, Melaka, to Dumai, Riau.
According to Bisnis.com, the proposal for the construction of a bridge was submitted by the government of Riau province and Malaysia 10 years ago, but was not realised because it was not a priority for the Indonesian government.
“I haven’t thought about it (the Melaka bridge),” said Indonesia’s minister of public works at the time, Djoko Kirmanto, adding that “internal matters of the country must be resolved first before things related to the outside”. - FMT
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