City asks govt to prioritize MRT

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

FThe city administration has requested the Ministry of Finance and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) to prioritize the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system this year.

"We have sent a letter to both institutions to include the MRT on their priority list," Assistant to the City Secretary for Development Affairs IGKG Suena said at City Hall on Tuesday.

He said the US$600-million mega project would be in the hands of the Ministry of Communications.

"If the project is prioritized by the two institutions this year, the MRT construction can be underway by the end of next year," he added.

The 14-kilometer project will stretch from Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta to Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta.

Suena explained that three kilometers of the MRT track would run underground, while the rest would be elevated.

"The underground section will run from Ratu Plaza to Dukuh Atas," he said.

Should the construction of the MRT proceed, the city's traffic could be more hectic in the near future, as the administration has decided to start the construction of the monorail and new busway projects this year.

"The (MRT) project will be financed under a soft-loan scheme by the Japanese government for 40 years, with 0.4 percent interest per year," said Suena.

The government and the administration will clarify their respective obligations to repaying the loan at a later date.

Earlier this year, City Secretary Ritola Tasmaya said the administration was financially prepared to support the MRT project.

He added that the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) might finance the construction of the MRT under a 50-50 financial scheme.

The MRT system has been planned since 1995 by a consortium comprising Japanese, European and Indonesian companies. The plan, however, was postponed following the monetary crisis that hit the country in mid-1997.

The original plan revealed that the MRT would stretch for around 15 kilometers from Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.

Transportation experts have repeatedly said that the MRT -- which could accommodate some 10,000 commuters per hour -- would be a better solution to the city's traffic problems than the busway, which kicked off on Jan. 15, and the monorail system. The busway and monorail, which are identified as the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system, will each has a capacity of 2,500 passengers per hour.