Situgunung Suspension Bridge
Situ Gunung Suspension Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in South-East Asia. Stretches over 243 meters, 1.8 meters width, and 121 meters altitude, Situgunung Suspension Bridge is located in Situ Gunung Tourist Park, Sukabumi — West Java, which has been one of tourism attractions for years and it is also a part of Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park.
Gede Pangrango National Park which has 24, 270.80 hectares administratively is located in 3 districts; Cianjur, Sukabumi and Bogor. The national park is one of the first-five national parks in Indonesia which was declared by the Minister of Agriculture on 6 March 1980. Before it is appointed as Gede Pangrango National Park, the forests were appointed as the core of Cibodas Biosphere Preserve by UNESCO in 1977.
TNGGP area has a lot of natural beauty that is potentially to be natural tourist attraction such as waterfalls, hot springs, caves, hiking tracks, and lakes. One those beauties is Situgunung area.
The suspension bridge was first constructed in the mid of 2017. The process of constructing the bridge was done manually by involving locals and experts from Bandung. Regardless of not utilizing heavy machinery in the construction, the bridge was finally completed in less than a year, precisely 4 months. For the sake of safety and comfort, technical assistance was done during the construction of the bridge by the people from the Center for Roads and Bridges – the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
‘The Bridge’ and Society
The existence of Situgunung Suspension Bridge is expected to have a positive impact to the locals. The locals have an important roles both in the construction of the bridge and run the facilities as well as the supporting devices of the bridge. Numbers of unemployment has been decreased and they are now doing their job like selling food and some handicrafts in Situgunung area free of charge. The managements encourage the locals’ spirits by inviting them to get involve in some activities around the bridge such as being parking attendants, performers at Amphitheater, safety devices installers, janitors, and so on.
Dede Asad as the management director of Situ Gunung Suspension Bridge has started his business in tourism since 2007. Dede’s interest has made him into someone who is influential and dependable person in tourism sector. In 2012, Dede was involved in the making of camping ground, known as Glamping, in two locations in Ciwidey, South Bandung. The Glamping project in Ciwidey was his first project and it is a success.
Years after that, precisely in 2017, Dede was trusted to be involved in developing tourist attraction at Sawarna Beach, Banten as his second project and another accomplishment for him. In the same year and the latest, Dede then made another accomplishment in tourism sector by taking part in the construction of Situ Gunung Suspension Bridge.
Dede’s commitment in making something that can make people happy and opening job vacancies for people in need has become the number one motivation in his business. He believes that success is not merely about money or getting some awards, but success is about helping people.
The Grand Opening of Situgunung Suspension Bridge
On 9 March 2019, precisely on Saturday, Situgunung Suspension Bridge was inaugurated by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Mr. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan by ribbon cutting ceremony and signing the inscription.
The Grand Opening event were attended and witnessed by the invited guests such as media, communities, business people engaged in tourism field, and the locals. Moreover, the event were attended by the officials such as the Deputy Governor of West Java, the Regent of Sukabumi, Mr. Marwan Hamami, Maritime Ministry, and Director General of KSDAE. The event’s excitement was completed by cultural performances performed on the wooden stage at Amphitheater.
