‘We may have been negligent’: Indonesian army chief owns up to West Java bridge collapse on opening day

The Indonesian army plans to review approximately 3,400 bridges it constructed, following the collapse of the Pongpet suspension bridge in West Java, which resulted in minor injuries to several villagers.

Army chief-of-staff General Maruli Simanjuntak stated that the review aims to address potential negligence in bridge supervision and ensure improved safety standards.

The army's bridge-building efforts are part of a broader initiative under President Prabowo Subianto to expand the military's role in civilian projects, emphasizing community involvement and cost-efficiency.

This program also highlights the strategic importance of these bridges for local communities, connecting vital routes for daily activities.

PANGANDARAN, Sept 17 — Indonesia’s army will review nearly 3,400 bridges it and the police have built nationwide after a suspension bridge collapsed in West Java on the day it was due to be inaugurated.

Army chief-of-staff General Maruli Simanjuntak said the review was ordered after the Pongpet suspension bridge in Margacinta village gave way on August 30, with around 50 people on it at the time.

No one was killed, although several villagers suffered minor injuries and abrasions, according to the army.

“I apologise, but there are indeed technical matters where we may have been negligent, in supervising the rules for bridge use or perhaps the quality of bridges we have built,” Maruli told CNA in an exclusive interview published today.

The 60-metre bridge, which spans a river about three metres below, is expected to cost 400 million rupiah (RM103,000) to rebuild.

Maruli said the army would review the bridges to identify any problems and improve their safety.

“So that, hopefully, things will be better going forward,” he said.

The Pongpet bridge was among 2,700 so-called Garuda bridges completed by the army in less than a year, including about 800 serving disaster-hit areas.

Suspension bridges account for about 30 per cent of the total, while busier routes use concrete bridges and prefabricated designs are used elsewhere to reduce costs.

Maruli said the army’s engineering corps had long been involved in bridge construction as part of its wartime duties.

“One of its duties is to build bridges under wartime conditions. If they can do that in war, then in peacetime the work should certainly be better. We can also bring in experts to help; that is not a problem,” he said.

The army’s bridge-building programme is part of a wider push by President Prabowo Subianto to expand the military’s role in civilian projects.

The bridges, along with 3,000 clean-water facilities built by the army, were formally inaugurated by Prabowo via video conference last month.

He described the projects as proof the military was “truly the people’s military”.

Maruli said the army’s approach involved training representatives from each region before they helped build the bridges themselves through a self-managed, labour-intensive system.

“When we go there with a self-managed, labour-intensive approach, we gain three advantages. First, the cost is clearly much lower,” he said.

“Second, we revive the spirit of mutual cooperation, gotong-royong, within the community. Third, the money circulates directly in the local area instead of going to a contractor from far away.”

For 16-year-old Ibrahim Firdaus, who lives in Margacinta, the bridge is an important route to school and work.

“I need it to go to school. Because otherwise, I would have to make a U-turn, and also for our parents to go to work,” he told the Singapore-based news outlet.

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在西爪哇省蓬佩特悬索桥坍塌导致几名村民受轻伤后，印尼军方计划对其建造的约 3400 座桥梁进行检查。

陆军参谋长马鲁利·西曼琼塔克将军表示，此次审查旨在解决桥梁监管方面可能存在的疏忽，并确保提高安全标准。

军队的桥梁建设努力是普拉博沃·苏比安托总统领导的一项更广泛举措的一部分，旨在扩大军队在民用项目中的作用，强调社区参与和成本效益。

该项目还强调了这些桥梁对当地社区的战略重要性，它们连接了日常生活的重要路线。

邦安达兰，9 月 17 日——印尼军队将对其和警方在全国范围内建造的近 3400 座桥梁进行审查。此前，西爪哇一座悬索桥在即将举行落成典礼的当天坍塌。

陆军参谋长马鲁利·西曼琼塔克将军表示，8月30日，马尔加辛塔村的蓬佩特悬索桥坍塌，当时桥上约有50人，之后下令进行审查。

据军方称，虽然有几名村民受了轻伤和擦伤，但无人死亡。

“我深表歉意，但确实存在一些技术问题，我们在监督桥梁使用规则或我们建造的桥梁质量方面可能存在疏忽，”马鲁利在今天发表的CNA独家采访中表示。

这座60米长的桥梁横跨下方约3米深的河流，预计重建费用将达4亿印尼盾（约合10.3万令吉）。

马鲁利表示，军方将对桥梁进行检查，以发现任何问题并提高其安全性。

“这样一来，希望以后情况会好转，”他说。

蓬佩特桥是军队在不到一年的时间内建成的 2700 座所谓的“迦楼罗桥”之一，其中约有 800 座服务于受灾地区。

悬索桥约占总数的 30%，而繁忙的路线则使用混凝土桥，其他地方则使用预制设计以降低成本。

马鲁利表示，作为战时任务的一部分，陆军工程兵团长期以来一直参与桥梁建设。

“他们的职责之一就是在战时条件下架设桥梁。如果他们能在战时做到这一点，那么在和平时期他们的工作肯定会做得更好。我们也可以引进专家来帮忙；这不成问题，”他说。

军队的桥梁建设计划是普拉博沃·苏比安托总统扩大军队在民用项目中作用的更广泛举措的一部分。

这些桥梁以及军队建造的 3000 个净水设施，已于上个月由普拉博沃通过视频会议正式启用。

他将这些项目描述为军队“真正是人民的军队”的证明。

马鲁利表示，军队的做法是先培训每个地区的代表，然后让他们通过自主管理、劳动密集型系统来帮助建造桥梁。

他说：“如果我们采取自主管理、劳动密集型的方式，就能获得三个优势。首先，成本显然要低得多。”

“第二，我们重振社区内的互助合作精神。第三，资金直接在当地流通，而不是流向远方的承包商。”

对于住在马尔加辛塔的 16 岁少年易卜拉欣·菲尔道斯来说，这座桥是他上学和上班的重要路线。

“我需要它去上学。否则，我就得掉头，而且我们的父母也需要它去上班，”他告诉这家新加坡新闻媒体。

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伊朗称在霍尔木兹海峡击中并扣押了一艘悬挂多哥国旗的油轮。

警方拘留一名涉嫌在雅加达飞往槟城的航班上企图盗窃的中国公民。

警方已将巫统代表关于“神父与修女”言论的调查文件提交总检察署。

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