Construction of monorail system to start in January
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The construction of two monorail lines is scheduled to begin in January 2004 but the elevated public transport system will only operate in the center of Jakarta instead of connecting Jakarta with Bekasi in the east and Tangerang in the west as originally planned.
The US$540 million two monorail lines will be built by PT Indonesian Transit Central (ITC) and its Malaysian partner M Trans Holdings.
ITC technical director Sukmawati Syukur said on Friday that the decision to revise the two monorail lines was based on the latest feasibility study conducted by ITC's consultant Mott MacDonald Indonesia.
"The study shows that constructing a Bekasi-Casablanca- Tangerang monorail line is not feasible if the infrastructure in the downtown is not prepared," Sukmawati told The Jakarta Post.
The original plan of the project was a 22.5-kilometer monorail line which would connect Bekasi and Tangerang via Jakarta's major roads including Jl. Casablanca and Jl. Daan Mogot.
However, the budgets for those swelled from $400 million to $540 million.
Sukmawati said that her company would first construct a 14.8- kilometer circular line. This "green line" will serve Jakarta's busiest downtown areas including Senayan, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said and Jl. Jend. Sudirman with 16 stations.
The 16 stations are located at the Senayan Sports complex, Plaza Senayan, the Jakarta Convention Center, Taman Ria Senayan, the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly building, Pejompongan, Karet, Sudirman, Setiabudi, Kuningan, Taman Rasuna, Casablanca, Gran Melia, Satria Mandala Museum, Jakarta Police Headquarters and the Jakarta Stock Exchange.
"The construction of the 'green line' is expected to be completed within two years," she said, adding that another 12.2- kilometer "blue line" would be started later. Both lines should be completed in the next three years.
The blue line will begin at Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta and end in Roxy, West Jakarta, with 13 stations in Kampung Melayu, Tebet, Saharjo, Menteng Dalam, Casablanca, Ambassador, Dharmala Sakti, Menara Batavia, Karet, Kebon Kacang, Tanah Abang and Cideng.
To minimize the traffic jams caused by the construction, Sukmawati said that the concrete pillars would be built first in the company's factory. The pillars would then be transported and installed at night.
When both monorail lines are completed, they are expected to transport some 140,000 people per day.
Each passenger will have to pay for a ticket costing between Rp 5,000 (60 U.S. cents) and Rp 7,500, depending on the distance.
ITC is a consortium of local companies of PT Adhi Karya, Global Profex Synergy and Radiant Utama set to develop the monorail project.
The project's Memorandum of Understanding between M Trans and the Jakarta Administration was signed in Sarawak, Malaysia and witnessed by the newly retired Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and President Megawati Soekarnoputri in August.
Sukmawati said that her company was still discussing the final results of the feasibility study. But she guaranteed that there would be no significant changes.
ITC is still waiting for another discussion with the administration on its role as the monorail concessionaire. Sukmawati said that her company proposed a 40-year build-operate- transfer (BOT) contract as the company hopes to reach its break- even point within 12 years.