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Special Report: Suramadu: Advantages and disadvantages
Introduced for the first time in 1960, the idea of building a bridge to connect the islands of Java and Madura has finally become a reality
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Introduced for the first time in 1960, the idea of building a bridge to connect the islands of Java and Madura has finally become a reality. This Wednesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially inaugurate the 5.4-kilometer Surabaya to Madura bridge, the longest in Southeast Asia. To further understand the history and impact of the development of the Suramadu bridge, The Jakarta Post's Indra Harsaputra, Agnes S. Jayakarna and Achmad Faisal report from Madura, Surabaya and East Java.
Despite being renowned for its hardworking culture, Madura Island in East Java is also notorious for its poverty, a condition that is often blamed on the fact that many Madurese leave the island to make a living.
Initiatives to fight poverty on the island have existed since 1960, from the time of president Sukarno, when the development of a bridge to connect Madura and Java was first introduced by noted engineer Prof. Dr. Sudyatmo. The idea was later reintroduced during president Soeharto's New Order era in 1986.
It took four years before Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 55/1990 on the development of the Surabaya to Madura (Suramadu) bridge was issued. The project made headlines in 1991, when the Salim Group planned to start a US$400 million cement industry in Madura.
The plan never materialized, mainly because of strong protest from clerics and religious figures on the island that feared the negative impact of the industry on local religious and cultural values.
Even today, such conservatism is still evident among Madurese religious leaders, including K.H. Abdullah Cholil, chairman of the Sumenep branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
He fears the Suramadu bridge will have a negative impact upon the religious and cultural values of the Madurese community, similar to what he says has occurred in the industrial areas of Surabaya and Gresik.
He also said the bridge had the potential to create both social and cultural conflict. "Some of us are afraid the Madurese will just become spectators to industrialization," Cholil said.
Similar concerns were also expressed by the Madurese cultural scholar Zawawi Imron. He said that a lack of adequate skills had forced the Madurese to migrate from the island to make a living.
However, head of the East Java provincial investment board, Hary Soegiri, was confident the operation of the Rp 4.7 trillion bridge - whose ground breaking ceremony was held in August 2003 by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri - would generate job opportunities for more than 8,000 people, or about 20 percent of Madura's total population of 4 million.
"So far, there has been a total of Rp 3.2 trillion in domestic investment," said Hary, referring to the PT Madura Industrial Estate port area (Misi) that will include industrial infrastructure in a 600-hectare area around the foot of the Suramadu bridge by the end of the year.
That, according to Hary, excluded three other domestic investments already operating on the island from 2008, including the tobacco processing company PT Karya Dibya Mahardika in Sumenep, the shipping company PT Adiluhung Sarana Segara in Bangkalan and the pearl and oyster company PT Maxima Mutiara Indonesia in Sumenep.
"There are other investors that have expressed interest in deve-loping the area around the bridge, but nothing is certain right now," he said.
Apart from Misi, according to Hary, seven other projects are also on offer to investors, which include infrastructure projects such as building roads that access the bridge, and the provision of other basic services such as water, sanitation, energy and telecommunications.
Other projects include the development of Tanjung Bulupandan Port in North Bangkalan, beef farming, salt processing, essential oils and the development of an agribusiness industry.
Deputy director of Bank Indonesia's Surabaya office,Wiyoto, said his office had recommended Madura as an investment destination for those in the banking sectors expressing interest in investing in East Java.
"The smooth distribution line between Madura and Surabaya will surely help develop Madura's economy," Wiyoto said.
He said his office had noted a relatively high increase in bank loans, from between 24 and 45 percent in the island's three regencies including, Bangkalan, Pamekasan and Sampang, from February 2008 to February 2009. Only Sumenep regency experienced a decrease of 17.7 percent in the same period.
"This means that in total, bank loans in Madura are increasing. This could be an indicator of economic development in the region," he added.
Separately, Pamekasan councilor Hosnan Ahmadi said the regency had prepared 40 bylaws in anticipation of the impacts of the Suramadu bridge, including bylaws on tobacco trading and a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages.
"Both bylaws are necessary, especially with regard to the regency's tobacco potential and the need to protect the Madurese from the influence of the Western values and culture," he said.
Similarly, East Java Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf said the provincial administration had also prepared a bylaw on immoral acts in Madura to be applied after operation of the Suramadu bridge commenced.
"We welcome investors to establish factories in Madura, but we ban them from opening discotheques or brothels as they are not in line with the local values and culture," Saifullah said.
Husni, originally from Sampang Madura, who currently runs a food stall in the provincial capital of Surabaya, however, expressed reluctance to return to his hometown following the operation of the new bridge.
"I prefer to stay here because apart from already having my own way of making a living here, I'm not convinced there are good education facilities in Madura for my children," Husni said.
Suwanto, head of the East Java Education Agency, said his office would make sure 60 percent of the schools were vocational senior high schools and 40 percent were general senior high schools in Madura, to help improve the skills of the Madurese.
"We will also integrate skilled education programs in the pesan-tren *Islamic boarding schools* in Madura, while at the same time develop an apprentice system for their students," Suwanto said.
