Indonesia holds ceremony over gift of pedestrian overpass from Osaka

Osaka (ANTARA News) - A ceremony was held Wednesday in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to mark the transfer of a used pedestrian overpass from Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, prefectural government officials said.

The overpass will make it easier for local residents to cross a river in the city on Java Island, the officials said.

Built in 1968, the overpass will be durable for 30 to 50 years, an Osaka official told Kyodo.

"We hope the overpass will also link people" between the two countries, the official said.

The Osaka government decided to relocate the overpass following a request by Yogyakarta to use bridges Osaka plans to dismantle. Osaka received the request when prefectural officials were sent to Yogyakarta to help rebuild areas hit by an earthquake on Java Island in May 2006.

Ten years ago, a landslide destroyed a bridge across the river. Since then, residents have had difficulty crossing the river to go to a hospital on the other side.

The Osaka prefectural government has gradually dismantled about a dozen pedestrian overpasses to cut maintenance costs and recently decided to give the Moriguchi overpass to Indonesia.

The number of overpass users, most notably schoolchildren, has been falling due
to Japan's falling birthrate, according to the Osaka government officials. Some
overpasses have very few users.

The relocated overpass, which stretched over a prefectural road, was removed in
November 2006. The rust was taken off and the overpass was repainted before
being shipped to Indonesia from Osaka port in December.

About 9.9 million yen in renovation and transport costs were covered by contributions from companies and citizens in Osaka Prefecture, according to the
officials. (*) END

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