Indonesia's army chief explains massive bridge and well construction drive

General Maruli Simanjuntak inspected the recently collapsed Pongpet suspension bridge, apologising for possible supervision failures and confirming a 400 million rupiah rebuild. He said the Indonesian Army is reviewing roughly 3,400 bridges under construction by the army and police to improve safety. To date, the force has completed about 2,700 Garuda bridges and 3,000 water points, with 800 bridges serving disaster-affected regions.

President Prabowo Subianto highlighted the works as evidence of a "people's" army and police. Maruli explained that bridge-building is a core task of the army’s engineering corps, adaptable from wartime to peacetime needs, and that local communities are trained and employed to keep costs low and foster mutual cooperation. The water-well programme also aims to supply irrigation and combat haze from forest fires, with over 400 wells drilled in fire-prone areas. Thousands of soldiers are deployed to enforce fire-prevention measures and support broader disaster-mitigation plans.