Manggarai plan faces criticisms
Manggarai plan faces criticisms
JAKARTA (JP): House members criticized yesterday the
government's plan to build a major integrated transport terminal
in Manggarai, South Jakarta, insisting that every detail of the
project should be clear and transparent.
Soetjipto, a member of the House's Commission V, which
oversees transportation, public works and communications affairs,
said the government should state clearly the policy guidelines
used to conduct the plan and explain other details, including the
bidding process and the selection of companies admitted into the
project's seven-member consortium.
"How will the cooperation project be conducted? Was the tender
processed openly or was it merely the handing out of a deal by
powerful parties in the bureaucracy?" he asked during a hearing
with Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto yesterday.
Soetjipto said the government must be careful not to give
the impression that every cooperation project between state
enterprises and the private sector involved the same private
companies.
The Manggarai integrated terminal is expected to sprawl over
124 hectares of land, 72 hectares of which currently belongs to
the state-owned Perumka railway company.
The giant project, which is expected to be completed by the
year 2006, will consist of a 22-railway-line train station on the
ground floor, four underground express railway lines, an inter-
city bus terminal with a capacity of 3,600 buses per day, a city
bus terminal with a capacity of 5,760 buses a day, a taxi
terminal, hotels, business centers, residential sites and
helipads.
Overall, the facilities, which will link the city's main
business districts, are expected to be able to accommodate 6.5
million passengers a day.
Perumka's land is presently occupied by a train station,
supporting facilities and a major railway maintenance facility
and is surrounded by residential and shopping areas.
President Soeharto earlier this month called on related
ministries overseeing this US$285 million project to speed up
licensing processes.
The consortium which is to construct the terminal, is
comprised of PT Bandar Mardi Perkasa, PT Cahaya Cipta
Adicemerlang, PT Citra Agratama Persada, PT Mitraguna Tribhakti,
PT Pembangunan Jaya, PT Sekar Artha Sentosa and PT Suhamthabie
Utama.
House member Muhammad Buang said that government agencies
taking part in the project -- which include the Ministry of
Public Works, the office of the State Minister for Agrarian
Affairs and the National Development Planning Board -- should
ensure that none of Perumka's assets go astray in the project.
Haryanto responded that the planning of the terminal was
currently at a very early stage.
"We must talk it over in a calm manner," he said repeatedly.
Haryanto said that the memorandum of understanding for the
project would be signed on Aug. 17, while further discussions and
negotiations would take at least another six months before the
project started.
Haryanto explained that, apart from the Manggarai project, his
ministry and its state enterprises were also conducting joint
projects with the private sector for the construction of
Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port and the expansion of Surakarta's Adi
Sumarmo airport, as well as ferry services between Jakarta and
Surabaya.
Other joint projects include the operation of luxury train
services between Jakarta and several destinations across Java and
the rehabilitation of Jakarta's PPD city buses.
He said that state firms under his office would invest Rp 1.44
trillion ($647 million) in the projects and, as of the first
quarter of this year, had already spent Rp 95.2 billion.
Haryanto said 88 proposals worth Rp 10.37 trillion for joint
projects were currently being studied and processed. Of that
figure, 44 proposals were for the construction of infrastructure
projects and the rest were for the construction of supporting
facilities, he said. (pwn)