Incomplete studies stall monorail

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.