REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The planned construction of the Sunda Strait Bridge has been described as not appropriate because it is located along an earthquake-prone strait, a scientist said.

"I think the plan to build Sunda Strait Bridge is less appropriate, what we need to develop is maritime transportation modes," Professor Indra Jaya, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Oceanologists (ISOI), said here on Monday after the opening of the Tenth ISOI Scientific Meeting.

Also, the cost of building the bridge will be very high, he said.

"Don't forget, Mount Krakatau which is located in the Sunda Strait area, is still active," he said.

The condition of the Suramadu Bridge (in East Java), however, is different because it is located in a shallow sea, he added.

"Our country is an archipelago, so we need to develop more modes of sea transport, not land transportation modes," he said.

Indonesia needs more ships and boats to transport people from one island to another, he added.

"If it is realized, development will not only exist on Java and Sumatra Islands, but also on other islands," he said.

Plans call for building the 29-km-long Sunda Strait Bridge, a mega-project that will connect Indonesia's two main islands, Java and Sumatra.

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