JM vouches for safety of monorail technology
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT Jakarta Monorail gave its assurance on Sunday that the technology it would use for the monorail project was safe and that the role of local companies in producing rolling stocks was limited to supplying and assembling components.
Chief project officer of the monorail project Bovanantoo said that the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) of Hong Kong, which has a solid reputation for safety, would guarantee the safety of the project.
"The MTRC will play a pivotal role as system integrator for the entire monorail system, which uses different components supplied by state car train maker PT INKA and engineering company Bukaka Group," he told The Jakarta Post.
Safety concerns surfaced after the consortium settled for Siemens AG of Germany over Japan's Hitachi technology as originally planned due to financial constraints.
Bovanantoo highlighted the reputation of MTRC as the mentor of Singapore Mass Rapid Transportation (SMRT) in the development of transportation infrastructure in the city-state.
The MTRC has reportedly won another bid to build a monorail project n Dubai together with Malaysian firm KL Monorail.
He acknowledged that the role of local companies would be limited to "assembling work," while most parts would be imported from abroad.
"That's a common practice. There is nothing to worry about. Even if we used Hitachi's licensed technology of Japan, we would use wheels imported from France and Italian dynamo instead of Japanese parts," he explained.
According to Bovanantoo, MTRC had already asked all local companies, including Bukaka, INKA and LEN Industry, to give a presentation over their respective role in the monorail project.
"And it (MTRC) has declared them competent," he claimed.
He added that international insurance firm AON Insurance of Hong Kong would provide insurance cover for the project.
"The cost for the insurance is quite expensive. It accounts for 10 percent of the total cost of the rolling stocks," he added.
The monorail project is estimated to cost US$496 million.
In its official statement, PT JM said that the operation of the straddle type monorail had been proven for at least 40 years.
"The use of this technology has been recommended by MTRC of Hong Kong as well British technical consultant Mott MacDonald," it said in statement.
Similarly, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso expressed his conviction that the monorail project would not put passengers' safety at risk.
"The project will be closely supervised by experts from Siemens," he said over the weekend.
PT JM has picked a consortium of local companies to supply trains for the monorail project amid financial difficulties since the Indonesia Consortium of Monorail Industry (ICMI), has proposed cheaper technology. The technology is priced at $496 million, much cheaper than sophisticated magnetic levitation (Maglev) technology of South Korean firm Rotem valued at $826 million.
The monorail project began in June last year and is expected to be finished in 2007.
The monorail will serve the prime business area, including Sudirman Business District and Kuningan Business District through a 14.3-kilometer line, while another 13.5-kilometer line from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Taman Anggrek Mall in West Jakarta will follow.