Monorail to go on in spite of raging internal dispute
Bambang Nurbianto and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite questions about financing, troubled joint venture firm PT Jakarta Monorail (JM) is confident it can complete the first five kilometers of the city's monorail system from Casablanca to Karet, South Jakarta, by March 2007.
During a visit to The Jakarta Post last week, JM director Sukmawaty Syukur said that the project was on schedule despite several delays due to changes in the masterplan.
"The monorail is the answer to the city's need for a mass, rapid and affordable transportation system," she said.
Saying Governor Sutiyoso supported the project and highlighting the environmentally friendly nature of the monorail, Sukmawaty said talks with several investors were underway.
"It's not that we have to get investors to cover the whole expenses of the project at one time ... we move on every step of the projects," Sukmawaty added.
However, the City Council said it needed to see more proof of financial security before it would give its approval for the partially city-backed project to continue.
In its agreement with the city administration, the consortium has to prove it could provide financing for the project by the end of October at the latest.
City Council Commission D member for development affairs Arkeno said that the commission would summon JM by the end of this month to update the commission on its progress.
Arkeno said the council supported the development of monorail projects but said JM should be able to convince other investors to take part.
"If the company has no ability to find investors and the financing cannot be completed in October, we may recommend that the city administration find other partners for the project," he added.
An ongoing dispute between JM shareholders: PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) that holds 55 percent of shares and Omnico Singapore Pte. Ltd. that holds the remaining 45 percent.
"If the dispute between the two cannot be resolved, there will be no financial institution interested in the project," Arkeno told the Post on Saturday.
Last week, Sutiyoso in a surprise move announced the withdrawal of Omnico from the project and said ITC already had new partner.
However, Omnico executive director Leon K.L. denied the company had left the consortium.
The appointment of the Indonesian Consortium for Monorail Industries (ICMI) to supply the rolling stock has sparked a rift between PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) and Omnico.
ICMI is a local consortium chaired by Bukaka, whose shares are partly owned by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Omnico had rejected ITC's decision to use ICMI technology and proposed rolling stocks produced by South Korea's Rotem instead.
Sukmawaty, who is from ITC, said that the total project cost would only amount to $489 million if JM used ICMI technology, while Rotem's would cost $826 million.
"The project will be supervised by German's Siemens who has decades of experience (building) fast tracks. With all of the preparations we've made, there is no reason to stop this project," she said.