Indonesia investigates collapse of longest bridge

JAKARTA. December 2. KAZINFORM Experts from several universities and police have investigated the deadly collapse of Indonesia's longest bridge in East Kalimantan on Sunday that killed at least 20 people and left dozens missing, a minister said here on Friday; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Indonesian Public Work Minister Djoko Kirmanto said that he was certain that there should be something wrong that the 710-meter- long suspension bridge built eleven years ago fell to the river.

"There must be (some thing wrong), because bridge normally stand by up to 40 to 50 years. But this bridge is only 11 years. Therefore need to conduct an investigation," he said at the State Palace.

The minister said that the investigation may take about one month.

Indonesia has been struggling to build infrastructure on a large scale to help spur economic growth.

Rampant corruption and lacking of transparency have been widely believed to be the bottleneck in building qualified infrastructures.

Going forward, the minister said that the government planned to rebuild the bridge connecting Samarinda and Tenggarong towns in the rich natural resources district of Kutai Kertanegara.

The government planned to pick up other developer to do the project, said Kirmanto.According to local media, the wreckage of the bridge has hampered ship carrying coal to pass the river.