Investor condition on sewage objected

JAKARTA: Assistant to the city secretary for development affairs, Irzal Jamal, said on Thursday that the development of a sewage management system, scheduled to begin this month, has to be delayed as the Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) has yet to be agreed upon.

The administration objected to the condition set by Global Grid, the Australian investor, in the Rp 50 trillion (US$5.75 billion) project.

Irzal said the company had agreed in an earlier agreement to cover all costs of the investment but later it added in the MoI draft that the administration must cover any additional expenses should contributions from customers be inadequate.

The MoI is scheduled to be signed this month, followed by the first investment from the company worth $5 million for a feasibility study and mapping the Jakarta area.

The company, which will start the piping construction next year, will hand over the facility in 25 years under a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme.

Irzal said the company would cooperate with the city's sewage firm, PD PAL Jaya, which currently serves the Setiabudi area in South Jakarta, since the latter could not manage all Jakartans' waste. -- JP