Jakarta Outer Ring Road project may start next month
Jakarta Outer Ring Road project may start next month
JAKARTA (JP): The eagerly anticipated Jakarta Outer Ring Road
(JORR) is entering the final stages of its preparation and may
begin next month, Minister of Settlement and Regional
Infrastructure Erna Witoelar said on Wednesday.
"State-owned toll road company PT Jasa Marga and Malaysia's
DRB-Hi Com are working on the final preparation of the project,"
she said.
"DRB-Hi Com agreed not to ask for tax exemption so that
everything will run smoothly. JORR's authority is also preparing
an open bid to pick suitable local companies as operators of the
project," Erna said after signing an agreement on a 3.9 million
euro grant (about Rp 32.6 billion) for a water management scheme
with the head of the European Commission Delegation in Indonesia
Sabato Della Monica and European Union President Harald Sandberg.
Erna further said about 70 percent of the material to build
the road will mostly come from domestic supplies.
The ministry is also preparing for the next road project
linking Cikampek - Padalarang in West Java and the Surabaya -
Mojokerto road in East Java, she said.
The investors for the roads in West Java and East Java,
however, are different from JORR.
The 63-kilometer JORR toll road project which will link all
outlying areas of Jakarta is designed to ease traffic congestion
in the capital.
Total investment in the project is about Rp 5 trillion
(US$526.3 million), she said.
The minister also said that a special team involving related
offices, including the Jakarta administration has begun
establishing arrangements for land clearance matters.
Erna again asserted that "the project will not involve
previous investors".
JORR's initial investors, namely, PT Citra Mataram Satriamarga
Persada, PT Marga Nurindo Bhakti and PT Citra Bhakti Margatama
Persada, are linked to former president Soeharto's daughter Siti
"Tutut" Hardijanti Rukmana.
They had only completed 40 percent of the project when the
economic crisis struck the country in the middle of 1997, forcing
the government to suspend work on the venture.
Parts of the project still awaiting construction are roads to
link Pondok Pinang and Kebon Jeruk road; Jagorawi and Cikunir;
and Kebun Jeruk and Penjaringan.
Part of the ring road that will link Cikunir, Cilincing and
Tanjung Priok are still at the preparation stage.
The whole project is expected to be completed within three
years. (edt)