City needs support for vital projects

City needs support for vital projects

Damar Harsanto , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on
Monday to ask support for the Jakarta administration's top
projects, such as flood mitigation measures, housing and
transportation.

"I gave a presentation on the city's projects before the
President in the hope the central government would understand
that they should contribute to some of the projects," Sutiyoso
told reporters at City Hall after the meeting.

The central government, for instance, could provide land for
low-cost apartments to relocate riverbank squatters, he added.

"Most of the squatters are not registered Jakartans, but they
are definitely Indonesian citizens."

Sutiyoso also called on the government to take part in the
construction of the macro transportation system and East Flood
canal.

Jakarta has a grand design for an integrated transportation
system: the busway, light-rail transit or monorail, mass rapid
transit system (MRT) and river transportation.

The administration has opened the first busway corridor from
Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, while it has
started to build the second and third corridors as well as the
monorail.

Out of the four systems, only the construction of the MRT or
subway, which would cost trillions of rupiah, would be in the
hand of the central government.

Sutiyoso has repeatedly complained over the protracted delay
in the subway project, which would effectively ease the city's
chronic traffic woes.

Sutiyoso admitted that the city had made little progress on
building the East Flood Canal as one of measures to relieve the
threat of flooding every wet season, mainly due to land
acquisition problems.

Sutiyoso said that the President had promised he would ask his
ministers to study Sutiyoso's report on the projects.