Incomplete studies stall monorail

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The monorail construction scheduled for February has, once again, been delayed due to unfinished financial and technical studies.

"The administration and the Malaysian investor are jointly carrying out several studies on this project. When they are finished, hopefully by this year, we can launch," city secretary Ritola Tasmaya said on Thursday.

Malaysian firm MTrans Holding Sdn Bhd director David Chew confirmed Ritola's statement.

"We are working out all details for the project along with the Jakarta Administration. We will make an announcement when we finish the studies and commence the project," he said after a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso at City Hall.

Chew predicted that construction would begin by the end of this year, while the monorail would likely open in 2006.

The administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August with the Malaysian firm in Kuching, Serawak, which was witnessed by then-Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was on a state visit to the neighboring country.

MTrans Holding has formed a partnership with PT Indonesia Transit Central, a consortium comprising PT Adhi Karya, Global Profex Synergy and Radiant Utama.

The companies planned to invest US$540 million in the construction of a 27-kilometer, dual-line elevated monorail. The monorail is to connect Bekasi to the east, and Tangerang to the west, of the capital.

The line will consist of the green line, a 14.8-kilometer circular route with 16 stations serving the capital's Golden Triangle business district of Kuningan, Jl. Sudirman and Senayan, and the blue line, a 12.2-kilometer route with 13 stations connecting Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, and Roxy, West Jakarta.

Ritola said MTrans had agreed to start constructing the two lines simultaneously, as per Sutiyoso's request last week.