The road to nowhere<\/p>\n
It has been a bad week for the contractors assigned to build
\nthe city's triple tier transit system. They have committed two
\nblunders, and that before the massive project even begins.<\/p>\n
First came the bulldozing of hundreds of trees planted only a
\nmonth ago as part of the city's regreening drive. The contractors
\nclaimed that the plot of land at Tanah Kusir in South Jakarta was
\nneeded for the ceremony to lay the project's first stone. Despite
\npromising to replant the trees elsewhere, the move upset many
\npeople, not least Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, who has sent off a
\nletter of protest.<\/p>\n
Then came the abrupt postponement of the ceremony itself.
\nOriginally planned for yesterday, the ceremony has now been
\ndelayed until after the General Session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly, leaving the private contractors with the
\nembarrassing task of contacting the glittering array of VIPs to
\nwhom invitations had been extended.<\/p>\n
For a project of this scale and importance, a worse start
\ncould not have been possible. After only one further gaffe, the
\ntriple tier project could become known as the triple blunder
\nproject. Judging by the way in which the contractors explained
\nhow they intend to finance the project, it will not be long
\nbefore that dubious title is well and truly earned.<\/p>\n
Jibes aside, these incidents suggest that the project is being
\npoorly coordinated and also point out another more disturbing
\nfact: the project is being rushed and the public kept at bay.<\/p>\n
Jakarta desperately needs a new and efficient public transport
\nsystem, which the triple decker project promises to provide. A
\nmass rapid transit system is an idea which the city
\nadministration has been kicking around for over a decade now.
\nWith each passing day the urgency grows, as the current public
\ntransportation system is on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n
The triple decker system will combine a light railway, a toll
\nroad and an ordinary road extending for 23 km from Bintaro in the
\nsouth to Kota in the north. The consortium running the project
\nare grouped under PT Citra Moda Margakencana Persada and include
\nPT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, Perumka (the state-railway
\ncompany), and PT Jasa Marga (the state-toll road operator).<\/p>\n
Before the economic crisis, the project was estimated to cost
\nRp 6.2 trillion. This week, as construction was about to begin,
\nthe contractors did not have the courtesy to inform the public,
\nwho will eventually pick up the bill, what the post-crisis costs
\nwill be. There are suspicions that the city administration has
\nalso been kept in the dark regarding the new cost of the project.<\/p>\n
The contractors appear to be willing to risk starting without
\nany credit financing, which is presently very difficult to
\nobtain. Initially the project will be financed with the equity of
\nthe three shareholders. Other companies, such as steel and cement
\ncompanies, may join the consortium at a later date, with each new
\nentrant introducing their own equity to help sustain the project
\nwhich is expected to be completed in 2001. When the economy
\nimproves, the consortium will turn to credit financing. This
\nhighly unusual opening gambit will put the project at
\nconsiderable risk should it fail.<\/p>\n
This project is being launched to inject a badly needed dose
\nof confidence into the economy, so the contractors say. It will
\nshow investors at home and abroad that even in the depths of
\ncrisis, Indonesia can launch a project of this scale. From scant
\ndetails provided by the contractors, it appears that the project
\nis launched with the intention of creating 500 new jobs in its
\ninitial phase.<\/p>\n
The launch of this project is intended to be a showcase.
\nMaking an exhibition out of constructing the transit system is
\nnot necessarily bad, but only if the contractors can put on a
\ngood show. For a start, that means better public relations than
\nthe botched beginnings of earlier this week and, most important
\nof all, greater public involvement in the planning and execution
\nof this vital project.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-road-to-nowhere-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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