The Jakarta bureau of capital investment and regional monetary management (BPM PKUD) is looking to open up participation in busway management to international investors.
Hasan Basri Saleh, the bureau's head, said they were looking for prospective investors with interest in vehicle provision.
"But they must cooperate with the existing busway consortia which still manages busway operations," he said.
BPM PKUD will hold the first of two Jakarta's Public Service and Infrastructure business forum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Oct. 14.
After Rotterdam, the group will hold a similar forum in Dubai on Nov. 10. Some 20 prospective investors from the Netherlands and United Arab Emirates are expected to attend the forums.
Hasan said their proposal would employ a burden-sharing system and would coordinate management with relevant city-owned enterprises to speed completion of the busway project.
These events are being organized amidst problems encircling busway management.
Busway operator Transjakarta has been facing delays in providing buses for the new corridors, leaving corridors 8, 9 and 10 idle.
Besides the lack of vehicles, an unresolved tariff problem festers between Transjakarta and the consortia operating the corridors.
The conflict started when the city opened a tender to procure buses for corridors 4-7. The tender was in compliance with a government regulation on public procurement.
The tender results made Transjakarta and city administrators aware of lower quotes compared to those from the first bus suppliers, PT Jakarta Trans Metropolitan and PT Jakarta Mega Trans.
To cover operational costs, tender winner Primajasa offered a tariff of Rp 9,536 (US$1.00) per kilometer for Corridor 4 (Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta to Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta) and Rp 9,371 per km for Corridor 6 (Ragunan to Kuningan in South Jakarta), both significantly lower than the Rp 12,885 per km Jakarta Trans has been charging for both corridors.
Another tender winner, Lorena, quoted Rp 16,661 per km for Corridor 5 (Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Ancol in North Jakarta) and Rp 9,443 per km for Corridor 7 (Kampung Rambutan to Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta). Jakarta Mega has been operating with far higher tariffs of Rp 22,597 and Rp 12,885, respectively.
While waiting for the ensuing negotiations to end, the city agreed to continue paying Jakarta Trans and Jakarta Mega the older, higher tariffs from January to May.
They also agreed to pay only 85 percent of the initial tariffs for service in June and July. It means the city paid Rp 10,952 per km, still higher than the tariffs offered in the open tender.
Jakarta Trans operational director I Gusti Ngurah Oka previously said the operators could only survive for two or three months with the lower tariff payment.
Oka said the tender winners could offer low tariffs because they used different bus components than those in buses his company provided.
He added his company would bring the case to the Business Competition Supervisory Commission if the city administration could not resolve the dispute.
The city's transportation agency head M. Tauchid Tjakra Amidjaja said ongoing negotiations with the bus suppliers seemed headed for a deadlock.
"The State Development Finance Comptroller is helping us solve this problem. If it doesn't work, we'll take it to the National Arbitration Body," he said.
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