Construction of Java-Sumatra tunnel to begin in 2005
Construction of Java-Sumatra tunnel to begin in 2005
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is planning to start the construction of a US$15
billion underground twin tunnel connecting Java and Sumatra early
next year, a senior official said on Thursday.
Deputy for infrastructure development of the National
Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Suyono Dikun said that the
project would be financed by a consortium led by European Union
investors.
"And by 2008, the project will hopefully be completed," said
Suyono, during a seminar on the tunnels, dubbed the Nusantara
Tunnel.
"We are also considering the participation of several
(Indonesian) state enterprises in the project," he said, hinting
that it could include state-owned railway company PT KA, electric
company PT PLN, telecommunications company Telkom and petroleum
company Pertamina.
To cover required funds of up to US$2 billion for the initial
construction and another US$4 million per year for operational
and maintenance costs, Suyono further said that there would be a
toll of approximately US$20 per vehicle per trip.
The tunnel is planned to be 33 kilometers long, with most of
it 40 meters below the ocean bed (averages about 70 meters below
sea level) in the Sunda Strait between the Java and Sumatra
islands.
Each tunnel will have a cross-section of 8.5 meters in height
and 6.5 meters in width, and will contain a railway for two-way
electric car trains capable of transporting 15,500 vehicles
across the tunnel per day.
Officials of PT Nusantara Tunnel Indonesia (NTI), one of the
tunnel's main local investors, presented in the seminar how
successful the concept of electric car trains would be for mass
transportation, taking the example of the same concept already in
use in the Dover Strait Tunnel, commonly referred to as the
Channel Tunnel, between France and the British Isles.
Commenting on the construction, State Minister of National
Development Planning/Bappenas chairperson Kwik Kian Gie, said
that it would be impossible for the government to finance the
project by itself.
"The most feasible option is offering the project to investors
through a build, operate and transfer (BOT) scheme," he said.
Kwik, also acknowledged how important the project was, citing
that it would be essential in connecting Java's main northern
route with Sumatra's main highway system.
The tunnels, Kwik continued, would also be an important part
of the future "ASEAN route", which is planned to connect the
length between Indonesia's Bali and mainland Asia on the Malay
peninsula as well as the "Asia route", planned to extend from
Bali to Beijing and beyond.