Govt Responds Plan Build Malacca Bridge

Pekanbaru (Antara Bali) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would support plans to build a bridge connecting Malacca Strait and Dumai in the Riau province, Riau governor Rusli Zainal said.

"The President has even assured the public that the government would push the development of the Malacca Strait-Dumai bridge after the construction of the Sunda Strait bridge," he said, quoting the President, according to a press release from the Riau province administration's liaison office in Jakarta here on Friday.

The release, issued by office staff member Erisman Yahya, says the President made the statement at a meeting with provincial governors across the country at his private residence in Puri Cikeas, Bogor, West Java on Thursday night (March 15).

The meeting was also attended by a number of cabinet ministers, including Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Djoko Suyanto and National Development Planning Minister Armida S. Alisjahbana.(IGT)