Public to get Subway project explanation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The public will be informed about the progress
\nof the subway project as soon as financing and other matters are
\nclear, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Surjadi said not everything was clear yet.<\/p>\n
\"Sooner or later we will explain everything...I do not want to
\nexpose something which is not clear yet,\" Surjadi said yesterday.<\/p>\n
This was because the project cost, estimated at US$2.2
\nbillion, would determine the fares on the 14.5 kilometer subway,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
How the project would be funded is part of on-going
\ndiscussions, he added.<\/p>\n
\"Because we do not have money we are looking for ways to
\nattract investors. This will inevitably affect the fares which
\nmust be affordable to the public,\" the governor said after
\nmeeting with representatives of a German company, Ferrostahl AG.<\/p>\n
It also remains unclear whether a presidential decree to
\nclarify the municipality's role in mass public transportation
\nprojects is needed.<\/p>\n
Ferrostahl is a member of the Indonesian Japanese European
\nGroup, the consortium partially financing the subway.<\/p>\n
The group, headed by Chief Executive Officer K.V. Menges, was
\npaying one of several courtesy calls, Surjadi said.<\/p>\n
Ferrostahl was ready to begin the project with other
\nconsortium members as soon as financial matters were settled,
\nsaid one of the representatives.<\/p>\n
IJEG Chairman Aburizal Bakrie said, after a meeting last week
\non the Group's financial proposal, that subway construction could
\nbegin in June. The government had given the green light as long
\nas loans were not government guaranteed.<\/p>\n
He said the Group could raise 30 percent of funds while the
\nrest could be secured from loans.<\/p>\n
Yesterday Surjadi was responding to demand for immediate
\npublic explanation of what areas were likely to be affected by
\nthe project. The subway will ply the Blok M, South Jakarta to
\ndowntown Kota route with 17 stations.<\/p>\n
Surjadi said there was no reason for the public to worry as
\nmost of construction work would be underground.<\/p>\n
He declined to comment further on the schedule.<\/p>\n
Offers to fund the project included loans from Germany but
\nmunicipalities are not allowed to accept foreign government
\nloans.<\/p>\n
An earlier proposal from the subway's project unit to have the
\npublic pay for the city's share in the project, has yet to be
\nheard of again.<\/p>\n
\"That was just one option,\" Surjadi said. The proposal said
\nthe city needed to raise $25 million per year for five years as
\nequity, and another $35 million a year for 25 years to pay back
\nloans.<\/p>\n
\"We are not too concerned about whether we have shares,\" the
\nGovernor said, \"What is important is that we can provide public
\ntransport.\"<\/p>\n
So far the city has not claimed involvement in another
\nproposal, the three-level transit roadway from PT Citra Lamtoro
\nGung Persada led by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana. However officials
\nand representatives of both IJEG and Citra have confirmed the
\npossibility of the simultaneous construction of both projects.<\/p>\n
Citra claims their project will begin on April 21. (anr)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/public-to-get-subway-project-explanation-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }