Ceremony to be held for monorail

JAKARTA: Governor Sutiyoso said on Monday a ceremony marking the start of a US$630 million monorail project would be held on June 12.

"We have obtained permission from the State Secretary (Bambang Kesowo) to mark the commencement of the project at the Bung Karno sports complex," the governor said.

The complex is managed by the state secretary.

The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held at the end of May after a deal with PT Jakarta Monorail, a consortium of Indonesian and foreign investors, including Hitachi Asia, was signed on May 14.

The project will includes the construction of the 14.8- kilometer "green line" and the 12.2-kilometer, less-lucrative "blue line". The green line is scheduled to open in December 2006, while the blue line will begin operation in early 2007. --JP.