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.