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.