Consortium to build $594.13m toll road<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An Indonesian-British consortium, led by
\nPresident Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana,
\nyesterday won a contract from the government to construct a 59-
\nkilometer toll road with an investment of Rp 1.29 trillion
\n(US$594.13 million).<\/p>\n
\"The deal is very important for us because it is the first
\ntime for a foreign investor to be involved in the toll road
\nproject in the country,\" Minister of Public Works Radinal
\nMoochtar said at the ceremony for the signing of the agreement
\nbetween the consortium and PT Jasa Marga, the state-owned company
\nassigned to manage toll roads in the country.<\/p>\n
The consortium, called PT Citra Ganesha Marga Nusantara, is 30
\npercent owned by PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, 30 percent by
\nJasa Marga and 40 percent by Trafalgar House of Britain.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's agreement on the toll road project, which will
\nlink Cikampek and Padalarang, both in West Java, was signed by
\nthe consortium's chief commissioner, Hardiyanti, and its
\npresident, Michael Slater, on one side and by the president of
\nJasa Marga, Maryadi Dharmokumoro, representing the government.<\/p>\n
Visiting British Minister of Trade Richard Needham, who also
\nwitnessed the signing of the deal, called the project the biggest
\ncivil work to involve a British company.<\/p>\n
Moochtar said that the deal allows the consortium to operate
\nthe Cikampek-Padalarang toll road for 27 years.<\/p>\n
\"After a period of the 27-year concession, we expect that the
\nconsortium will transfer the toll road management to the
\ngovernment,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said that the project's construction, scheduled to start by
\nthe middle of next year, will be implemented in two stages.<\/p>\n
\"The first stage will include the construction of the
\nhighway's segment between Cikampek and Purwakarta, while the
\nsecond phase will link Purwakarta and Padalarang,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He expects that the Cikampek-Purwakarta segment will be
\ncompleted by March 1997 and the Purwakarta-Padalarang section by
\nMarch 1999.<\/p>\n
Dharmokumoro meanwhile announced after the ceremony that in
\naddition to the 59-kilometer toll road, the consortium will also
\nconstruct 7.2 kilometers of outlet roads along the highway as
\nwell as four intersections over it.<\/p>\n
Slater, who is also deputy managing director of Trafalgar
\nHouse, told the Post that the consortium was established last
\nDecember with authorized capital of $88.5 million.<\/p>\n
He declined to specify its paid-up capital.<\/p>\n
Investment<\/p>\n
According to Slater, the British government since 1988 has
\noffered a concessional grant worth $28 million to help the
\nIndonesian government purchase a stake in the toll road project.<\/p>\n
\"For financing the planned toll road, we are hoping for more
\nexport credits from the U.K. government and we are looking for
\nother investors to join our project,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Trafalgar's equity in the consortium will then be reduced
\nbecause the company will offer some of its stake to other
\ninvestors interested in the project.<\/p>\n
Paula Ayus, the consortium's vice president, told reporters
\nthat the consortium has received preliminary commitments from
\nvarious foreign banks to help finance the project.<\/p>\n
A British embassy report said yesterday that the British
\ngovernment has provided a series of concessional loans worth $550
\nmillion since 1986 to Indonesia for the development of various
\nprojects, such as power generation and transmission, forestry
\nradios, educational equipment and rail networks.<\/p>\n
An informed source said that Hardiyanti, popularly known as
\nMbak Tutut, has had the good fortune to clinch another toll road
\ndeal worth some $400 million in the Philippines.(fhp)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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