Agency wants more money for busway project<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
With Rp 117 billion (US$13.77 million) having already been
\nallocated for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, the City
\nTransportation Agency is asking for additional funds to finance a
\ntelevision advertisement campaign to promote the project.<\/p>\n
"We still need more money to promote the project through
\ntelevision advertisements," the head of the agency's system
\ndevelopment division, D.A Rini, said, adding that the
\nadvertisement would be produced abroad.<\/p>\n
Rini declined to say how much additional money the agency was
\nseeking or in what country the advertisements would be produced.<\/p>\n
The city administration plans to open the first 12.9-kilometer
\ncorridor of the busway project from Blok M in South Jakarta to
\nKota in West Jakarta early next year.<\/p>\n
Some Rp 50.80 billion of the allocated Rp 117 billion will be
\nused to purchase 50 buses, while the remaining Rp 66.20 billion
\nwould be used for the construction of bus shelters and the
\nerection of traffic signs.<\/p>\n
The City Council also approved an additional Rp 32 billion
\nrequested by the agency in the revised city budget endorsed last
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
The agency said the Rp 32 billion would be used to redesign
\nbus shelters and construct pedestrian bridges along Jl. M.H.
\nThamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman.<\/p>\n
The money also will be used to develop a tracking system and
\nan information system to support the BRT.<\/p>\n
The project, based on a similar project in Bogota, Columbia,
\nhas been revised several times since it first being introduced in
\nlate 2001.<\/p>\n
Many observers have criticized the project, saying not only
\nwill it not solve the city's traffic problems, but it will add to
\ncongestion and damage the environment.<\/p>\n
The observers say an integrated transportation system is
\nneeded to solve Jakarta's traffic woes, not separate projects
\nsuch as the busway system and a proposed monorail.<\/p>\n
The transparency of the projects can also be questioned, as
\nthey were likely conducted through appointment, the observers
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The administration earlier signed a memorandum of
\nunderstanding with a Malaysian company to develop a monorail in
\nthe city.<\/p>",
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