PT Perencana jaya Architect of Mahakam River Bridge: HK

Jakarta - Publicly listed PT Hutama Karya (HK) said the architect of the Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar) bridge on the Mahakam river in East Kalimantan, was PT Perencana Jaya. "It was not our company which produced the design of the Kukar bridge but the work was given to PT Perencana Jaya," HK Corporate Secretary Ari Widiyangtoro said here on Tuesday night. He said that HK only served as the contractor based on the mandate given by the project owner, the ministry of public works (PU). PT Perencana Jaya was given the mandate produce the graphic design of the bridge. "In its building, a (bridge) project should have a contractor and an architect firm. In this case, we were the contractor," Ari said. He said that after PT Perencana Jaya completed design of the bridge, HK did its construction. At the time, HK was given four work packages in the 1999 - 2001 period. The first package was done in 1995 and the last package ended in 2001. "This is based on the contract with the owner," he said. He said that the total value of the four packages of the contract was Rp104 billion. The funds were taken from the state budge and from the overseas assistance. "We have no ownership in the project because we are purely a contractor," Ari said. PT Perencana Jaya is a consultant company in the construction of building and bridge. The Kukiar bridge which spanned 710 meters over the Mahakam bridge in East Kalimantan and was the longest suspended bridge in Indonesia with a suspended section of 270 meters, collapsed on Saturday killing at least 18 people and injuring over 30 others. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed the investigation into the causes of the bridge which began official operations ten years ago.(*)