Events of 20 August 2003: History of the Construction of the Suramadu Bridge
Merdeka.com - Suramadu Bridge is the longest bridge in Indonesia that connects Surabaya-Madura with a length of 5,438 meters. Suramadu is a landmark for Indonesia, especially Surabaya.
In addition, the construction of the Suramadu bridge is also one of the efforts to accelerate the socio-economic development of the Madura Island region. Where the hope is to increase economic activity, distribution of goods and services and tourism activities.
The history of the construction of the Suramadu bridge stems from Prof.'s idea. Sedyatmo in 1960 and was only implemented in 2003 which was approved by President Megawati Soekarnoputri on August 20, 2003. Meanwhile, the opening was ratified by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on June 10, 2009.
The following is complete information regarding the events of August 20, 2003 which have been summarized by merdeka.com via liputan6.com and media.neliti.com on Thursday (19/08/2021).
History of the Construction of the Suramadu Bridge
East Java Province is one of the six provinces on the island of Java. East Java province is an important center in Indonesia. The capital city of East Java province is Surabaya City.
Meanwhile, Madura Island is an area that is geographically separated from the city of Surabaya. This causes Madura Regency to be called Madura Island.
Administratively, Madura Island is included in 33 East Java provincial governments. Therefore, infrastructure is needed to support the activities of the region.
In this case the construction of the Suramadu bridge has a very strategic role on Madura Island, namely to increase economic activity, distribution of goods and services and tourism activities.
Madura Island, which is part of the province of East Java, is experiencing unfavorable conditions where economic growth is slow and income per capita is lagging behind. The movement of transportation routes was also hampered so that the construction of the Suramadu bridge became one of the important developments at that time.
Exactly today 18 years ago on August 20 2003, the construction of the Suramadu bridge has started. The President of the Republic of Indonesia at that time, Megawati Sukarnoputri inaugurated directly the installation of the Suramadu bridge piles at Tambak Wedi Surabaya.
The late Taufik Kiemas, National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar, TNI Commander General Endriartono Sutarto and the Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure at that time Soenarno were also present at the event.
Inauguration of the Use of the Suramadu Bridge.
The process of building the Suramadu bridge took quite a long time, which took about 6 years. Finally, on June 10, 2009, President Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) inaugurated the use of the Suramadu bridge. The inauguration ceremony took place in Sekar Bungo Village, Bangkalan, Madura.
With the operation of the Suramadu bridge, the distance from Surabaya to Bangkalan, Madura, which originally took 30 minutes by ferry, now only takes 10 minutes. During the inauguration, SBY also formed the Surabaya-Madura Regional Development Council.
This was done as a follow-up effort to the construction of the Suramadu bridge. The goal is to develop existing infrastructure in the Madura region. This is because the Madura region has been considered the most underdeveloped region when compared to other regions in East Java.