Another mega project

For a project this big, it is probably justified to say that the news of its planned construction has come rather unexpectedly for most of us, despite the fact that hints, of something rather big pending, were given by officials late last year.

In September last year the Minister of Transportation, Haryanto Dhanutirto, announced that the present bus station at Manggarai in South Jakarta would be expanded into a 72-hectare, integrated, four-story station serving trains, inter-city buses, minibuses and taxis.

Although he declined to mention the names of the private companies which would be involved in the project during its construction, the minister said a number of companies would form a consortium for that purpose. Construction was to start this year and the terminal would begin operating within the first five years of its 25-year construction period, the minister said.

Haryanto also said no personal property would be appropriated for the terminal's construction because the land would be taken from the state-owned railway company Perumka, which, in return, would get a 100-hectare plot in Karawang, east of Jakarta. This was a major point, since land appropriation has always been one of the most difficult problems to settle in urban construction projects throughout Jakarta. Except for a few minor variations on the theme, involving, for example, estimated costs, land appropriation has been the story for the past few months, as far as most of us know.

Now, according to information provided by a number of top government officials and private entrepreneurs involved in the planned project, the Manggarai Integrated Central Transportation Terminal, as it is officially called, will take 124 hectares (about 310 acres) of land and cost, approximately, the equivalent of $285 million.

Instead of a 72-hectare, integrated, four-story station serving trains, inter-city buses, minibuses and taxis, the planned project will include a railway station with 22 railway lines on the ground floor, four underground express railway lines, an inter-city bus terminal capable of accommodating 3,600 buses a day, a city bus terminal serving 5,760 buses a day, a taxi terminal, hotels, recreation facilities and shops and restaurants. It will even have an Islamic cultural center comprising of a mosque, library, museum, meeting hall, civic center, parks and a children's playground.

Obviously, much more land will be needed for this project than can be provided by the state railway company, which only owns 72 hectares of the 124 hectares needed. Hence, Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja's call on residents of the area to remain calm.

"I assure you that the consortium in charge of handling the project's construction will set the compensation in line with the existing regulations," the governor told the residents' representatives, who came to ask for greater clarity regarding the plans.

Governor Surjadi's assurance is certainly welcome in light of the fact that in so many instances before, disagreement about the amount of compensation paid has caused friction, which can only do harm.

From the point of view of urban planning, there is no doubt that the planned terminal project will benefit Jakarta's millions of residents and visitors alike. Our only hope is that the job will be executed without causing too much hardship for the people who, like it or not, will be affected.