Bimantara boss joins US$1.5b MRT project
JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Bimantara business group Bambang Trihatmodjo, the second son of President Soeharto, is to be one of several investors in the Mass Rapid Transit project.
Irsan Rifai, who heads the secretariat of the project's joint working group, said Friday that Bambang had joined forces with another businessman, Bambang Yoga Soegama.
The companies representing their interests in the subway project for the Blok M to Kota route are PT Krisnatara and PT Investasi Kusuma Arta, Irsan said. The project will cost around US$1.5 billion.
Earlier reports said Bambang's elder sister Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, who heads PT Citra Lamtorogung Persada, was interested in the project. But officials of the project management unit have denied this.
Irsan said the two companies will finance the construction phases when the basic design is completed, but did not reveal any figures.
The basic design is being financed by a consortium consisting of PT Bakrie Investindo, PT Pembangunan Jaya, PT Lippo, PT Bukaka/PT Kuda Perkasa, PT Suthamthabie and PT Steady Safe.
Other investors in the basic design, estimated to cost US$ 8 million, are Ferrostahl AG of Germany and Japan's Itochu Corp.
"Presentation of the basic design itself was conducted on Sept. 4 before Governor Surjadi Soedirdja and State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie," Irsan said.
The MRT project is under the auspices of the Agency for Application and Assessment of Technology, which Habibie chairs.
Irsan said the working group, which consists of various government representatives, including some from the municipality, is still working on the draft of a presidential decree on the project.
Irsan said the drafting is taking time "because we must be very cautious". The presidential instruction, he added, would include the authority of the municipality in managing the subway and in drawing public funds for the project.
An executive of the project management unit said earlier that funds from private investors would not be enough.
The executive, Slamet Sularno, said up to Rp 868.8 billion could be raised from the public by the year 2025, by reactivating lapsed tax regulations.
Another proposal is the controversial congestion pricing system. Motorists passing through main roads during and after the construction of the MRT will pay a certain fee in rush hours.
"The proposals are still being discussed by the council," Irsan said.
Construction cannot begin before the decree is issued. According to schedule, construction should begin next year, and reach completion in 2001. (anr)