Legislator questions JORR project
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)