Delays raise costs of Pulogebang bus terminal
JAKARTA (JP): The construction cost of the planned 7.1-hectare bus terminal in Pulogebang, East Jakarta, has swollen to Rp 13 billion from Rp 7 billion after a five-year delay.
Hajid, president of PT Rodial Eron, the contractor in charge of the terminal project, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the deal between the city administration and the company was signed in 1990. "But because we had to delay the project until next year, we have had to revise the project cost."
The new bus terminal Pulogebang, located some 10 kilometers east of Pulogadung, will replace the dilapidated and outdated Pulogadung station.
PT Rodial Eron has agreed to provide a 7.1-hectare plot for the new terminal and finance the project. In return, the company was granted the 3.5 hectares of land where the current Pulogadung bus station stands, which the developer plans to turn into shopping and office complexes.
The five-year delay was due to bureaucracy. "It took years for us to obtain government approval for the project," said a company official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Before official approval was obtained in 1992, the Kampung Rambutan bus terminal case forced the contractor to slow its schedule. The newly-inaugurated Kampung Rambutan bus terminal, designed to replace the outdated Cililitan bus terminal in East Jakarta, was partially damaged after the governor dedicated it on Oct. 5, 1992. Public and government officials decried the contractor's sloppy work, and accused city officials in charge of collusion.
According to Hajid, the completion of the environmental analysis impact and detailed study on traffic also took time. "Prices over the past five years have been increasing, and the project estimated at Rp 7 billion in 1990 has increased by some Rp 6 billion."
The 3.5-hectare terminal compound will be divided into three parts: 1.1 hectares for a bus pool, and the other 2.4 hectares will be divided between inter-city and city bus terminals.
There are now 1,000 city buses serving 63 routes and 750 intercity buses plying 39 routes.
"The terminal is too small for that many buses, and the roads around the terminals have been severely congested." (yazid)