Sunda Strait Bridge Threaten Indonesian Maritime Economy

Sunda Strait Bridge is not the Best SolutionSunda Strait Bridge (JSS) project has become a controversial issue in this country. Indonesian coordinating ministry for economy, Mr. Hatta Rajasa said JSS support the economy of Sumatera - Java and Indonesia, (Okezone.com, March 12, 2014). While according to the maritime expert from ITS Surabaya, Prof. Dr. Daniel M Rosyid (Republika, July 17, 2013) the Sunda Strait Bridge (JSS) megaproject has more disadvantages for Indonesia; because, there are another solution to fix the accessibility problem between Sumatera and Java. I am one of the people who disagree with the JSS project plan. In my view, JSS project is a threat for Indonesian maritime economy. Indonesia has a very large ocean, almost 80% of Indonesias area is the ocean. Besides that, in 1982 the UNCLOS (United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea) has been stated that Indonesia is recognized internationally as a maritime country. If the JSS will be built, Indonesia will against its nature as a maritime country; because Indonesian people are accustomed to using the car in their daily life, so it will make people choose the road solution rather than marine transportation. In the end, the marine transportation in Sunda Strait will be neglected.Sunda Strait Bridge is very costly project. This megaproject will cost about 180 trillion rupiahs. I am convinced that it is better to allocating the budget to improve the marine transportation system and the road construction from Aceh to Lampung. If there is a sophisticated marine transportation system in Sunda Strait; I believe that the accessibility problem between Sumatera and Java can be resolved. I think the traffic jam problem at Merak Harbor is caused by the marine transportation system that not well managed and the insufficiency amount of ferry. So, I think that we need the sophisticated marine transportation system for Sunda Strait, not the bridge. According to Daniel M. Rosyids data (Danielrosyid.com, September 16, 2009) the cost to build the Sunda Strait Bridge is 180 trillion rupiahs while the cost to improve the ferry transportation system is 20 trillion rupiahs. If we compare the cost that will be needed for build the Sunda Strait Bridge and for improve the marine transportation system, I am inclined to believe that improving the marine transportation will be more cost effective and more efficient. Besides that, if we see and compare these two solutions (the bridge and the marine transportation) from another perspective such as environmental and technology perspective, I think the sophisticated marine transportation system is the best solution. If we see from environmental perspective, JSS project will against the nature because Indonesia is an archipelago country, so it may cause negative impact for the environment. The technology of the JSS also hasnt been well proven, so this project will be very risky as Sumatera and Java is located on the ring of fire.Sunda Strait Bridge also may cause the population explosion in Java, because it will make the urbanization number increases. Because JSS will be beneficial only for the land mafia in Banten and Lampung. Even the owner of the land in Lampung will be handed to the Jakarta people which are much more financially capable. Because in Lampung the education and skill are limited, the land owners soon will become the spectators in their own hometown or the factory labor and urbanization will be happen.Besides that, JSS also makes Sumatera will be depend to Java. Whereas if the budget for JSS project is allocated for fix the infrastructure of Sumatera; I believe it can support the forming of the new sources of economic growth in Sumatera Island because the provinces in Sumatera Island actually can be the independent regional.In my opinion, Sunda Strait bridge its not the best solution for the accessibility between Sumatera and Java; Because, Sunda Strait Bridge against the Djuanda Declaration and UNCLOS (United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea). I think it is better to allocate the budget to improve the infrastructure quality of Sumatera and make the sophisticated maritime transportation system in Sunda Strait. I believe that it can make Indonesian marine transportation will be well developed and it will be the wise solution for Indonesia.References:Ardhaneswari, W. (2013, March 14). Jembatan Selat Sunda dalam Perspektif Negara Maritim. Message posted to http://ardhanes.blogspot.com/2013/03/jembatan-selat-sunda-dalam-perspektif.htmlRosyid, D. (2009). Jembatan Selat Sunda : Blunder Konsep dan Teknomik. Retrieved March, 14, 2014, from http://danielrosyid.com/jembatan-selat-sunda-blunder-konsep-dan-teknomik.html