T

he government’s talks over the legality of the presidential decree on the Sunda Strait Strategic Infrastructure Region (KSISS) will go on for a further two weeks following a failure to reach a consensus.

The debate revolves around Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo’s proposal to revise the decree.

In the revision, Agus wants the feasibility study on the Sunda Strait Bridge (SSB) project to be funded from the state budget, whereas the current decree stipulates that a consortium consisting of tycoon Tomy Winata’s Artha Graha Network and the Banten and Lampung regional governments provide the funding.

In addition, Agus also wants the SSB project to be separated from the KSISS regional development plan. The reason for this revision, according to Agus, is to ensure transparency and fairness.

To settle the issue, the government’s directive board, including several economic ministers led by Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, conducted a meeting here on Wednesday. After a closed-door, four-hour meeting, however, the ministers failed to reach an agreement.

“Basically speaking, we all agree that the principles of accountability, transparency and the need to maximize coordination relationships between the regional and central governments are important,” Hatta told reporters after the meeting.

“On the finance minister’s input on the decree, this meeting decided to establish a team. This team has two weeks to analyze the input and it will report its final recommendation to the board. The board will then make a final decision on the decree,” he added.

The team consisted of several ministers and officials; Agus, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, Cabinet secretary Dipo Alam, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Sjamsuddin, Industrial Minister MS Hidayat and National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Armida Alisjahbana.

“We are determined to ensure the SSB project groundbreaking takes place in 2014,” Hatta said.

The SSB is planned to connect Java and Sumatra through Banten and Lampung.

As of now, passengers and cargo from Sumatra and Java are transported through Merak Port in Banten and Bakauheni in Lampung. A single ferry journey takes between three to four hours, while a fast boat ride takes around 45 minutes.

Upon completion of the bridge, which is estimated to cost the state at least Rp 100 trillion (US$10.9 billion), it would only take 30 minutes for passengers and cargo to cross the strait by electric train.

The bridge is designed to be at least 29 kilometers long – six times the length of the Suramadu bridge, which connects Java and Madura – and with six car lanes, double railway tracks and motorcycle lanes.

Djoko said that he believed the feasibility study on the SSB could be completed before the end of 2013 despite of the massive scale of the project.