JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto predicted that the construction of the Sunda Strait bridge would take ten years to finish. "According to the result of the project’s feasibility study  the construction of the bridge which will connect Java with Sumatra will cost Rp100 trillion," the minister said after attending a cabinet plenary meeting here on Thursday.
     
However, he said, the detail of the funds would be calculated by a team that would be set up by the government. Kirmanto said that the government in January next year would issue a presidential decree on the formation of the team for the building of the Sunda Strait bridge.
     
"The decree which regulates the team and committee as well as working groups for the project would be issued in January," the minister said. After the team has been set up, it would start conducting a feasibility study, the minister added.
     
He expressed hope that the construction by Indonesian engineers would be started in 2014. "As Indonesian engineers have the capacity to build the project, there will be no need to use foreigners," he added. The minister said that a bridge is technologically better and more lasting than a tunnel to connect Java with Sumatra.