Gov’t Constructs Wear Arafura Bridge to Connect Yamdena Island & Larat Island

Wear–Arafura Bridge which connects Yamdena Island and Larat Island in West Southwest Maluku Regency (MTB), Maluku Province. (Photo by: Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing).

Building Indonesia from the peripheries is one of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s Nawa Cita (nine priority programs).

Indonesian Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing has built roads and bridges in the border areas and the outer islands in the country. One of those bridges is Wear – Arafura Bridge connecting Yamdena Island and Larat Island in the West Southeast Maluku Regency in Maluku Province.

Despite being a part of Maluku Province, the two islands are located to the southeast of Ambon City and are part of forefront islands of the Indonesian archipelago sharing a border with Australia separated by Arafura Sea.

With smooth connectivity in Indonesia’s border and forefront islands, life quality of the resident people is expected to improve, economic growth is expected to be higher, and the results of development are expected to be equitably distributed, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono said.

In the meantime, Head of the National Road Implementation Office (BPJN) XVI Ambon Satrio Sugeng Prayitno said Wear – Arafura Bridge spans 323 meters. “The progress now has reached 75 percent. If you see the trend, the completion of construction can be faster than planned on contract, approximately on September 2018,” Satrio said on the construction site.

For the record, the construction of Wear-Arafura Bridge started in December 2016 with a budget of Rp123 billion and is fully carried by PT. Nindya Karya.

Yamdena Island and Larat Island are parts of the preservation of roads and bridges monitoring on 9 islands in Maluku Province Project which started on 26 April 2018. Other islands to be visited are Babar, Marsela, Selaru, Moa, Wetar, Leti, and Kisar Island.

In addition, Satrio added, although Larat Island is smaller than Yamdena Island, the former supplies the needs of agricultural and fishery products to Yamdena Island that has less fertile soil conditions. Meanwhile, Yamdena Island has a natural tourist attraction including Bomaki Village which boasts beautiful natural scenery and cool air.

Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing through BPJN XVI Ambon, Directorate General of Road Development has budgeted Rp18.93 billion for the preservation and reconstruction of roads and bridges in Yamdena Island that span along 156 km. The road connects Saumlaki Port to Wear-Arafura Bridge. From the budget, road quality improvement through reconstruction and rehabilitation of 3.6 km of damaged roads is carried out.

For the preservation of the national road in Larat Island that span along 48 km, Rp16, 73 billions of budgets are allocated, in which 4 km of road is rehabilitated. (Biro Komunikasi Publik Kementerian PUPR/EN) (GWH/EP/Naster)