Jakarta's monorail project moving at snail's pace
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.