City urged to find new developers for terminal

City urged to find new developers for terminal

JAKARTA (JP): City Councilors urged the municipality yesterday
to hand over the Pulogebang Bus Terminal project to bigger
companies, which have more funds, to speed up its completion.

Rusjdi Hamka, a City Council speaker, said the municipality
should not depend on a development firm which could not guarantee
the project's realization, especially during the financial
crisis.

Rusjdi made the remarks in response to the slow development of
the new bus terminal -- which should have been under construction
since 1987 -- to replace the crowded terminal in Pulogadung. Both
are located in East Jakarta.

"If the developer finds it too difficult to finance the
project, especially because of the monetary crisis, then I
suggest that the administration had better find other developers
which are capable of financing the project."

Ali Wongso HS, head of Commission D for development affairs,
said the administration, which signed a memorandum of
understanding on the project with private developer PT Rodial
Eron in 1987, could offer the project to other firms because
there had been no progress.

Ali said the administration could also offer the same
cooperation scheme, in which the developers were given the right
to acquire the Pulogadung terminal site in exchange for building
the Pulogebang terminal, or other schemes, including the build-
operate-transfer system.

East Jakarta Mayor Sudarsono said Wednesday that the developer
would likely start construction of the first stage of the
proposed three-story Pulogebang terminal later this year so that
it could be utilized during next year's Moslem Idul Fitri
holiday.

He said Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso had given his approval for
the development of the proposed three-story terminal to be
conducted in stages.

"Due to the developer's limited budget and the monetary
crisis, the project will focus on the construction of the main
ground area."

Sudarsono said the establishment of the new terminal was
essential to ease traffic congestion around the Pulogadung
terminal.

"The traffic problem around Pulogadung terminal is mainly
caused by the flow of intercity buses which has become
increasingly unbearable," he said. "We need a bigger terminal to
accommodate all the buses."

He said the 2.1-hectare Pulogadung terminal could accommodate
300 stationary buses but, in reality, the terminal must serve
more than 1,000 buses per hour.

The proposed 7.1-hectare Pulogebang terminal, which was
estimated to cost about Rp 120 billion before the monetary
crisis, is designed to have a capacity for 3,000 buses per hour.

The barter scheme for the project states that the developer
has the right to use a 3.3-hectare plot of land in Pulogadung in
exchange for the construction of the Pulogebang terminal.

The project has been delayed several times for various
reasons, including a dispute between the developer and the
administration over the width of the land and the design of the
new terminal.

In a related development, Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur
said yesterday that his office had canceled its plan to expand
the Senen bus terminal this year due to the limited availability
of funds.

Andi said the project, which would cost about Rp 4 billion,
would involve the relocation of about 100 families who lived on
the 3,000-square-meter plot of land located adjacent to the
existing terminal. (cst)