Suspects Named in Indonesian Bridge Collapse Disaster

Jakarta Globe, Tunggadewa Mattangkilang & Farouk Arnaz, January 02, 2012

At least 18 were killed and 39 others injured when the the Mahakam II
Bridge in East Kalimantan collapsed. (Agency Photo)   

            

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"Bambang also said the police were also looking into the possibility of corruption being a factor in the shoddy construction of the bridges." Corruption in Indonesia? Surely that is not possible

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The police have named three suspects in the case of the collapse of a 10-year-old suspension bridge in East Kalimantan in November, an officer said on Sunday.

Comr. Gen. Sutarman, the National Police chief of detectives, said the three suspects had yet to be detained.

“Based on the results of the investigation and the evidence gathered, three people have been named as suspects by the East Kalimantan Police,” Sutarman said.

He identified them as Y.S., an official of the Kutai Kartanegara district public work office; S.T., a technical executor of the project; and MSF from Bukaka Tehnik Utama, the company in charge of the bridge’s maintenance and repairs.

He said the three suspects would be summoned for questioning at East Kalimantan police headquarters on suspicion of having violated two articles of the Penal Code pertaining to negligence leading to the loss of life.

At least 24 people died when the Rp 104 billion ($11.4 million) Mahakam II bridge, inaugurated in 2001, collapsed on Nov. 26. A dozen other people are still missing and feared dead.

Meanwhile, East Kalimantan Police chief Insp. Gen. Bambang Widaryatmo said that the suspects may be arrested after their questioning.

“We will summon them immediately and detain them,” Bambang said.

He added that the three suspects were named after the questioning of 57 witnesses, including five expert witnesses from five universities.

He said the investigation had been slow because some of the maintenance workers were among the victims and their equipment had sunk to the bottom of the Mahakam River when the bridge collapsed.

“We are also constrained because the experts who have been asked to provide explanations in relation to the collapse of the bridge are still awaiting the results of the analysis of several teams deployed from the concerned ministries to study the incident,” he said.

Bambang also said the police were also looking into the possibility of corruption being a factor in the shoddy construction of the bridges by studying all available documents, including the contract for the construction, signed in 1995.

“We are currently investigating suspicions of corruption in the bridge’s construction. For example, cables that should have been 100 centimeters long, were only 10 centimeters long,” Bambang said.

Meanwhile, Sri Wahyuningsih, a spokeswoman for the Kutai Kartanegara district, said that district authorities were continuing efforts to evacuate the victims and vehicles still believed to be at the bottom of the Mahakam River. The authorities will also lift the structure, a task expected to be complete by Feb. 17.

“There were three companies making offers and presentations [for the clearance contract], but we have yet to choose a winner,” she said.

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