PROPOSAL FOR MALAYSIA-INDONESIA BRIDGE NEEDS IN-DEPTH STUDY

MELAKA (Malaysia), Dec 24 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government will take into consideration all aspects, including suitability and economic factors, on
the proposal by the Melaka government to build a bridge across the Melaka
Straits to link Malaysia and Indonesia.

Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak said he did not
dismiss the possibility of the proposed bridge becoming a reality one
day.

Opening the 9th Malay World Islamic World Convention here Tuesday, Najib
who
is also Finance Minister, was responding to Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali
Rustam who urged that the bridge be built in the interest of economic
development and the long-established relations between the two
countries.

Mohd Ali had said that the proposed bridge, a distance of about 52km,
was
estimated to cost US$11 billion (RM$37 billion).

"I am suggesting that the Economic Planning Unit study the request for the
bridge which could be funded through the Private Finance Initiative," he said in
his speech at the convention.

The proposal to link Malaysia and Indonesia had been made since the 1990's
before the idea was abandoned due to the 1997 regional economic crisis.

-- BERNAMA