Another Rp 32b sought for controversial busway project
Another Rp 32b sought for controversial busway project
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration said on Monday it would need an
additional Rp 32 billion for its bus rapid transit (BRT) -- or
busway -- project, an admission that points to the
administration's poor planning of the project.
With the additional fund, which is to be taken from the city
budget, the 12.9-kilometer busway stretching from Blok M, South
Jakarta, to Kota, Central Jakarta, will cost at least Rp 117
billion.
"There will be significant changes in the designs of the bus
shelters and bridges connecting pavements and the shelters
located on the median strip," busway project leader Irzal Djamal
said.
It was the second revision of the project's budget since the
plan was introduced two years ago. Initially, it was estimated
that the project would only cost Rp 50 billion. The figure was
revised up to Rp 85 billion late last year. The implementation of
the project has also been postponed several times already.
Even with the additional fund, Governor Sutiyoso said he could
not guarantee that the busway would be completed in December
according to the latest schedule, as there might be technical
problems.
Sutiyoso said the new design for the 29 shelters would be
similar to the busway shelters in Bogota, measuring 13 meters
instead of the earlier design of 5 meters, and that owing to the
increased space, no air conditioners would be installed as
initially planned.
As for the 21 pedestrian bridges, Sutiyoso said they would be
resigned as a winding, combined staircase and ramp to provide
accessibility for disabled people, instead of a straight
staircase.
Irzal explained that the redesigning of the bus shelter
required an additional Rp 15 billion, while the change in the
bridge design needed Rp 17 billion.
He did not say how much was currently allocated toward the
shelters and connecting bridges, but from the previous budget of
Rp 85 billion, Rp 35 billion is allocated toward the
infrastructure: Shelters, connecting bridges, separators and
traffic signs. Another Rp 50 billion will be used to purchase 60
buses.
He stressed that if the busway project was launched in
December, the 165 buses now running along the designated busway
corridors by eight bus operators -- including state-owned public
bus operator PPD, Mayasari Bakti, Steady Safe and Bianglala --
would be rerouted.
Asked if the new buses would be able to accommodate the bulk
of passengers who regularly travel from Blok M to Kota, Irzal
could not provide an answer, but said that 140 busway buses would
be available by 2004.
He also said that the buses for the busway could not use
gasoline as planned earlier, because of technical problems, and
would instead run on diesel fuel. It takes eight months to
process the order for gasoline-powered buses, while another four
months would be needed to assemble them.
However, he guaranteed that the emission from the buses would
meet the international Euro II standard for environmentally
friendly vehicles.
Developed countries generally use Euro III-rated buses.