President Jokowi Inaugurates Wear Fair Bridge in Southeast Maluku

President Jokowi Wednesday (09/14) inspects the Wear Fair suspension bridge in Southeast Maluku regency, Maluku province. (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, accompanied by First Lady Ibu Iriana Jokowi, Wednesday (09/14) inaugurated the Wear Fair suspension bridge in Southeast Maluku regency, Maluku province.

“The Wear Fair bridge is vital for the mobility of people and goods,” the President stated.

President Jokowi also said that the inauguration of the bridge connecting two small islands —Fair island and Kei Kecil island— is a form of the Government’s commitment to building infrastructure in an equitable manner across the country. In fact, in a year, the Government has built around 200 similar bridges to ensure connectivity between districts, villages, and islands, he said.

“We built not only big toll roads, big ports, or big airports, but also inter-village bridges, inter-island bridges like this, in a year we have built approximately 200 suspension bridges such as this to connect villages, districts, and small islands,” the President said.

Meanwhile, Director of Bridge Construction of Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Yudha Handita Pandjiriawan also stated that the Wear Fair suspension bridge spans 120 meters with a width of 1.8 meters. This type of bridge was chosen because of its fast construction process and suitability to the surrounding community’s needs.

“First, its fast construction, because there used to be a bridge, and it was dismantled immediately so that it would be more beneficial and the people across the island still don’t use many large vehicles,” said Yudha.

In addition, Head of the Maluku National Road Implementation Office (BPJN) Jon Sudiman Damanik expressed hope that the community can properly maintain the Wear Fair suspension bridge as one of the state assets that provide real benefits to the community. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/AIT) (FI/LW)