City asks House support
City asks House support
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration is seeking help from members of the
House of Representatives to put pressure on the central
government to disburse funds to finance several big projects in
the city, including the development of the subway and the East
Flood Canal.
"We request them to press the central government to live up to
its commitments made earlier," Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo said on
Tuesday after meeting the House's Commission XI on financial
affairs.
Fauzi said many projects vital for the public had come to a
halt and have been delayed due to lack of funds.
Citing an example, Fauzi explained that the delay on the East
Flood Canal project was because the central government failed to
immediately develop plots of land already acquired by the Jakarta
administration, giving elbowroom for squatters to occupy the idle
land.
The central government has promised to provide Rp 2.53
trillion (US$281 million) for the canal project, while the city
administration would cover the cost to acquire 400 hectares of
land, which hovers at about Rp 2.47 trillion.
The development of the 23-kilometer-long canal -- linking five
rivers in the eastern part of the capital -- is meant to help
mitigate annual flooding in that area of the city.
The central government also expressed its commitment to help
the administration get soft loans from foreign donors to fund the
Mass Rapid Transit subway system worth about Rp 7 trillion in
order to tackle transportation woes in the capital.
"Unfortunately, the projects are seemingly not on the central
government's priority list," Fauzi further lamented.
Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration
had again expressed the green light for the subway project.
Meanwhile, House member Vera Febianti revealed that the
legislature would lend its support to the administration's
efforts to materialize strategic projects in the capital.
"The development of the subway, for instance, will depend on
the vital role of the central government to get soft loans from
foreign donors," Vera said.