City to form subway management unit
City to form subway management unit
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday that city administration is currently preparing the establishment of a project management unit to be in charge of handling construction of Indonesia's first subway system.
"As governor I will be responsible for the construction of the project, but its day-to-day implementation will be supervised by the vice governor of economics and development, Tb. Rais, who will be appointed as the unit's executive chairman," Surjadi said after attending an integrated meeting on preparations for the commemoration of Indonesia's 50th anniversary of independence day.
Yesterday's integrated meeting was attended by members of city council, the city's five mayors, vice governor of governmental affairs, Idroes, and chairman of the national committee for the commemoration of Indonesia's independence, Cacuk Sudarjanto.
Surjadi said that members of the project management unit will consist of officials from city administration and representatives of the Ministries of Public Works and Transportation, as well as the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology.
"We have selected a number of people to be installed in the unit and are currently in the process of asking for permission from the related institutions," he said.
Approvals for the selection of the unit's members are expected to be completed later this week, he said, adding that the completion of the unit's membership will be accompanied by the issuance of a governor decree.
A subway system is considered the most suitable choice for providing a better public transportation means and to help solve the increasingly complicated traffic problems in the city. A proposal for the construction of the subway system, which is estimated to cost about US$1.3 billion, was approved by President Soeharto last February.
Surjadi said that city administration wants to start construction of the project as soon as possible, but compiling the unit's membership took more time than expected, due to the involvement of a number of institutions with their own bureaucracy and administration.
"These obstacles are hindering the project, and we are starting later than we expected," he said.
As soon as the basic design for the subway system is completed, the government will form a consortium of state-owned companies, city-owned firms as well as foreign and local enterprises to finance the construction of the project.
Surjadi said that to build the 14-kilometer subway system requires a great deal of funding. "The only way is to form a consortium to finance the project."
According to the project's proposal, the development, operation and maintenance of the subway system will be handled by the public company Jakarta Metro Corporation, under a build- operate-own plan.
About 30 percent of the US$1.3 billion investment will be provided by the corporation as equity. The rest will be in loans.
About 30 percent of the corporation's equity will be invested by the government, through state and city-owned companies, while the rest will be covered by private companies.
The development of the subway system is expected to start by the end of next year and be completed in the year 2000.
The project will be equipped with 15 stations, which will be located in Panglima Polim, Blok M, Senopati, Senayan, Karet, Setia Budi, Dukuh Atas, Hotel Indonesia, Wahid Hasyim, Monumen National, Harmoni, Sawah Besar, Mangga Besar, Glodok and Kota.
Each station will be equipped with various facilities and commercial centers. (31/yns)