Kalimantan Bridge Collapse Defendants Face 5 Years
Tunggadewa Mattangkilang. The Jakarta Globe, 21/03/2012
East Kalimantan's Kutai Kartanegara District Court charged three defendants in connection with the deadly November collapse of a suspension bridge in Tenggarong, Kutai Kartanegara that claimed 24 lives.
Prosecutors have alleged that poor maintenance caused the collapse.
Kutai Kartanegara public works officials Yoyo Suriana and Setiono, and M. Syahriar Fahrurrozi, who was in charge of bridge maintenance at sub-contractor Bukaka Teknik Utama, were charged with negligence that resulted in death on Wednesday, said Zulkifli Hasan, spokesman for the court.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Yoyo, Setiono and Syahriar were arrested on Jan. 4. The three allegedly caused the collapse of the Mahakam II Bridge in Tenggarong on Nov. 26. The suspension bridge collapsed after the deck sagged under an uneven distribution of traffic. Engineers posit that a vital linchpin sheared in half, causing the bridge to fall.
Some 24 people lost their lives in the collapse. A dozen remain missing and 31 suffered serious injuries.
The collapse also cost mining companies billions of rupiah in losses. The bridge was on a main transportation route out of the region.