City to start bus terminal project without extra land

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration has decided to cease negotiations with residents whose land will be affected by the construction of the Pulo Gebang intercity bus terminal in East Jakarta, leading to a change in its design.

"We've decided to stop negotiations, which have delayed the project for three years," city secretary Ritola Tasmaya said on Thursday.

He added that construction would restart next year. "The construction will be completed within one-and-a-half years. The new terminal will be operational by mid 2006."

The administration has been negotiating with the residents since 2000 as the new bus terminal was earlier expected to begin operation in 2001.

Nine hectares of the required 10.9 hectares has already been cleared after residents sold their land to the administration.

However, the remaining land owners are demanding a price of up to two times the taxable value of the land (NJOP).

A gubernatorial decree issued by former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin in 1972 stipulates that any compensation must be in line with the latest NJOP and the amount must not exceed that.

Head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, Rustam Effendy Sidabutar, added that the decision not to acquire the remaining land led to some changes in the design.

"As we decided to abandon the three remaining locations, we have to make some minor changes to the original design, including moving the location of the entrance," he explained.

Rustam claimed the terminal would be the most modern bus terminal in the city and would replace the overcrowded Pulogadung bus terminal, also in East Jakarta.

Citing a recent survey by Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Rustam said that the existing terminal would not be able to accommodate the flow of buses by 2005 based on assumption that the number of buses grows by between 2 percent and 3 percent every five years.

Currently, the 3.5-hectare Pulogadung terminal is only capable of accommodating about 800 innercity buses and 400 intercity buses.

Rustam said that the new terminal, which will have direct access to the Cakung-Cilincing toll road, would be able to accommodate around 3,000 innercity buses and 800 intercity buses.

He said that the terminal would also be equipped with a shopping center on the third floor.

"In the future, the terminal will also be utilized for the busway," he said.