Legislator questions JORR project
JAKARTA (JP): There are allegations a Malaysian consortium was awarded the delayed Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR) toll road project through corruption, collusion and nepotism, a legislator said on Thursday.
"I was informed by a reliable source that there are indications of the involvement of a government official's child in the appointment of the consortium .... ," the deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission IV for infrastructure and transportation affairs, Rosyid Hidayat, was quoted by Antara as saying.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli, who was scheduled to discuss the issue with the commission, failed to appear at the House.
Rosyid, a member of the Reform Party faction, said the government had earlier consulted with the commission on the JORR project, but that no final agreement had been reached on the appointment of the Malaysian consortium.
Several commission members from the United Development Party faction said they suspected there were irregularities in the process of awarding the project to the Malaysian consortium.
The consortium, led by DRB HiCom, was awarded the project following 10 months of negotiations with the government.
The 69.3-kilometer Jakarta Outer Ring Road was initially to be constructed by PT Citra Bhakti Margatama Persada, PT Citra Mataram Satriamarga Persada and PT Marga Nurindo Bhakti under a build-operate-transfer scheme with state-owned toll operator PT Jasa Marga.
The three private companies were partly owned by former president Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana.
But the project, which will link all of the outlying areas of Jakarta when completed, was suspended in 1998 as part of the government's retrenchment program to cope with the economic crisis. At that time, only some 30 percent of the project had been completed.
An investment of about Rp 4 trillion will be needed to complete the project. The Malaysian consortium has agreed to provide Rp 1.2 trillion, with the remaining funds to come from new bank loans. (sim)