Busway firms may be replaced<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said Thursday that his administration
\nwould remove bus companies that have bad loans with banks from a
\nconsortium in charge of developing the city's new busway routes.<\/p>\n
\"We will verify whether they (the companies) have bad debt. If
\nthey do, we will replace them with other firms,\" Sutiyoso
\nannounced at City Hall on the sidelines of a meeting with city
\nleaders on the launch of a campaign against thug gangs in the
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on a report that two members of the
\nTransBatavia consortium, which will be in charge of the busway
\nCorridors II and III -- PT Mayasari Bakti and PT Metromini -- had
\nfailed to repay outstanding loans from city-owned Bank DKI.<\/p>\n
Corridor II will stretch from Pulogadung in East Jakarta to
\nHarmoni in Central Jakarta, while Corridor III from Harmoni to
\nKalideres in West Jakarta. They are expected to begin operation
\nearly next year.<\/p>\n
According to a letter sent by Bank DKI to Bank Indonesia dated
\nJuly, 5, 2005, Mayasari owes the bank Rp 22.7 billion (US$2.5
\nmillion), while Metromini still owes Rp 16 billion to Bank DKI.<\/p>\n
The loans, which Bank DKI classifies as bad debts, were part
\nof liquidity loans given to public transportation firms between
\nNovember and December 1999 with a low interest of 6 percent.<\/p>\n
Mayasari and Metromini have refused to comment on the report,
\nbut did make the assertion that the loans were taken out by the
\nprevious owners.<\/p>\n
\"We will require those companies to repay their respective
\nobligations first,\" he stressed.<\/p>\n
Aside from PT Mayasari Bakti and PT Metromini, which have 50
\npercent and 5 percent of shares, respectively, the consortium
\nalso groups two other companies whose routes are being affected
\nby the new busway routes -- Steady Safe with 23 percent and state
\nbus company PPD with 22 percent.<\/p>\n
He also said he had not been informed about the consortium's
\nproposal to buy Daewoo buses from South Korea at the price of Rp
\n1.5 billion each for Corridors II and III -- roughly twice the
\nprice of the buses used for the first busway route of between Rp
\n821.7 million and Rp 846.5 million.<\/p>\n
TransBatavia said Tuesday that it had proposed compressed
\nnatural gas-fueled buses made by South Korean firm Daewoo for the
\nnew buses.<\/p>\n
The Daewoo buses reportedly have automatic transmissions with
\n11,000-cc engines that produce 290 horsepower.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, we will re-check whether such a price is proper,\"
\nhe asserted.<\/p>\n
TransJakarta Busway Management (BP TransJakarta) head Irzal Z
\nDjamal had said that the price too high.<\/p>\n
\"The administration has to dig deeper into its wallet to pay
\nfor a higher ticket-price subsidy or raise ticket prices,\" he
\nsaid without elaborating on the details of the expected subsidy
\nor revenue from the tickets.<\/p>\n
He said that TransBatavia had recommended a distance-based
\nticketing system for the new busway projects to keep the subsidy
\ncosts from increasing too much, if it stuck with the flat
\nticketing system.<\/p>\n
The second busway corridor from Pulogadung in East Jakarta to
\nHarmoni in Central will be 13.4 kilometers long, while the third
\nroute from Harmoni to Kalideres in West Jakarta is 18 kilometers,
\nas compared to the current 12.9-kilometer route from Blok M in
\nSouth Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
PT TransBatavia president director Azis Rismaya Mahfud
\nacknowledged that his company would not be able to provide the
\nbuses ahead of the schedule of the busway operation in December
\nthis year due to financial problems, saying it would likely
\nlaunch the busway project in March 2006.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/busway-firms-may-be-replaced-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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