President to send ferry to mobilize Kutai bridge users

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will send a ferry to help mobilize citizens that usually used the Kutai Kartanegara Bridge that collapsed on Saturday, Regent Rita Widyasari says.

“Pak SBY, through the Coordinating People’s Welfare Minister, will send a ferry. My administration will also prepare a port specifically for the transportation of students that usually used the Kutai Kartanegara Bridge,” she said Sunday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Meanwhile, sea transportation in the area would be temporarily halted because the National Search and Rescue Agency planned to recover the bridge’s wreckage that had sunk to the bottom of the river, Rita said.

“So for the moment, ponton [traditional wooden boats] are not allowed to pass because the [search and rescue] team is still evacuating victims and the ruins of the Kutai Kartanegara Bridge,” she said.