City asked to curb proposed funds for busway project
City asked to curb proposed funds for busway project
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Council has asked Governor Sutiyoso to reduce the
proposed fund for the construction of the busway corridor from
Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta to Kalideres, West
Jakarta.
The council argued on Thursday that the fund in question was
higher than the amount in the governor's initial proposal.
"The governor had said ... that the total proposed fund for
the busway construction would be about Rp 479.60 billion
(US$51.57 million), which we could understand. But when we
studied the draft 2005 city budget, we found out that the busway
allocation was higher -- Rp 600.32 billion," councillor M. Mansur
Syaeroz of the Awakening Reform (FKR) faction said on Thursday
during the budget's deliberation.
Because the figures differ, the council has called on the
administration to revert it to the amount proposed initially.
The Rp 120.72 billion difference, Mansur said, could be used
to finance projects that would have a greater impact on improving
the welfare of the poor, such as poverty alleviation and low-cost
housing programs.
The National Mandate Party (PAN) faction, however, emphasized
that the administration had to stick to the current plan.
"The administration must refer to the plan as regards
financing, infrastructure construction and technology specs...,"
said PAN councillor Abdul Ghoni.
The administration has considered using buses powered by
compressed natural gas (CNG) for the second busway corridor, but
this would mean more expensive buses, with the cheapest costing
Rp 1 billion.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)
faction demanded that the administration report to the council on
its six-month evaluation of the first busway corridor before
proceeding with the second corridor.
The first corridor runs from Blok M, South Jakarta, to Kota,
West Jakarta.
PDI-P councillor Raja Natal Sitinjak said the evaluation
report was vital to knowing the public's response and feedback
over the busway.
The TransJakarta busway management had only appointed the
University of Indonesia's Center for Transport Studies (CTS) just
before the July deadline to assess the busway.
The CTS required three months to provide a thorough
assessment, including service standards, traffic management,
ticketing system, feeder services, pedestrian facilities and
management.
Aside from the evaluation, Raja said construction work on the
new corridors had worsened traffic in the capital.
"We call on the administration to draw up the necessary
measures to ease the traffic jams caused by the construction of
the corridors," he said.
Proposed busway fund
(in billions of Rp)
City Parks Agency 276
City Public Works Agency 259
City Secretary 65
City Public Lighting Agency 5
Total 600