Jakarta's monorail project moving at snail's pace

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta

Although the US$5.9 million monorail project was launched in June in a groundbreaking ceremony officiated by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the city administration and the developer have only just begun conducting relevant superstructure construction surveys, such as "soil tests".

Assistant to the city secretary for development affairs Suena said on Tuesday that members of a joint team consisting of city officials and PT Jakarta Monorail representatives were conducting soil tests and other "preparatory activities" along the planned monorail routes.

The construction of piles in several areas along the planned routes have been delayed to allow the joint team to complete the preparatory activities, expected to be finished in August.

Suena said the soil tests were being taken so as to ensure that the piles supporting the monorail superstructure did not damage underground utility lines.

He did not mention whether a soil stability test, which measures the porousness of soil along the routes, had been or was being conducted.

The test is vital to determine whether the soil is stable enough to support the monorail and the cumulative stress of its mobile weight -- to ensure that the completed structure would not sink into the ground over time.

Suena said the administration had appointed 15 officials from various agencies to the 30-strong team and were tasked with monitoring the progress of the soil test.

Officials on the team hail from the public works, spatial, transportation, park and building supervision agencies.

"Our officials are involved because they are knowledgeable about the city utilities lines under the roads along the monorail routes," he told The Jakarta Post.

According to Suena, the joint team is also tasked with studying and recalculating the layout of the planned lines -- above the right-hand or left-hand side of roads, or over the median strips.

The June 14 groundbreaking ceremony on Jl. Asia Afrika, Central Jakarta, was to kick off the construction of the monorail's two initial lines: the 14.8-kilometer Green Line, serving the capital's Kuningan-Sudirman-Senayan golden triangle, and the east-west 12.2-kilometer Blue Line connecting Kampung Melayu and Roxy.

Suena guaranteed that the preparatory activities would not affect the schedule of the monorail project.

The Green Line is to be operational in 2006 and the Blue Line in 2007.

Separately, chairman of City Council Commission D for development affairs Koeswadi Soesilohardjo said the commission did not know about the details of the project, including the construction time frame, as the monorail was not funded by the city budget.

He said the commission could summon the officials involved and the developer if any irregularities were found in the construction process or in its financial management.

"Commission D, together with non-governmental organizations and other community groups, could supervise the progress of the giant project," he added.

As of now, no independent monitoring body has been established to check the project's progress.