City seeks investors to build busway

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hoping to build another 12 busway corridors across the capital within three years, Sutiyoso's administration has invited investors to participate in the projects.

"Some investors have expressed an interest in taking part, but they are waiting until the legal basis for their participation has been established," Jakarta Public Works Agency head Fodly Misbach said on Thursday.

Fodly said the interested investors were from both local and foreign companies, including state-owned enterprise and city- owned companies.

The City Development Planning Board (Bappeda) is preparing several gubernatorial decrees on 10 key projects in the capital, including the participation of private investors in the busway projects, according to Fodly.

Building the remaining 12 busway corridors would require between Rp 2.5 trillion (US$272 million) and Rp 3 trillion in investment.

"The acceleration of the busway projects is feasible should private investors fund them. The administration would pay them back later in installments," he said.

He said the administration would find it difficult to materialize the projects if it was reliant on the city budget alone.

"Construction work on the busway corridors has been brought to a halt in many areas as the budgetary year 2004 ended on Dec. 31 and the developers now await the disbursement of funds for the new budgetary year," he said.

The council approved the city budget on Jan. 6, a week behind schedule.

The disbursement of the funds, he said, could not be carried out before May, so the construction work had been delayed.

Meanwhile, City Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendi Sidabutar expressed similar concerns to Fodly's.

"We have to work very hard to develop two busway corridors within a year. I cannot imagine how hard it would be if we were aiming for four a year," he said.

Sutiyoso has expressed an ambition to develop the busway projects before 2007, when his term comes to an end. The administration's initial target was 2010.

The governor said his intention is to provide better public transport for residents who live on the outskirts of Jakarta.

The administration spent at least Rp 240 billion (US$26.9 million) to establish the first busway corridor from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta, which became operational early last year.

This year, the city is establishing two busway corridors, which will connect Pulogadung in East Jakarta with Harmoni in Central Jakarta and Harmoni with Kalideres in West Jakarta. More than Rp 600 billion of the city's Rp 14 trillion budget has been allocated for the corridors, which are slated to become operational in October.

The transportation agency has allocated at least Rp 10 billion for the next four busway routes, plus another Rp 3.6 billion in the 2005 budget to create a system to monitor and control the operation of the entire busway project.