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)