Monorail work again as fresh funds begin to flow
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT Jakarta Monorail has resumed its long delayed construction work and will soon announce its foreign financiers it said on Wednesday.
Workers have been seen erecting concrete piles for the elevated monorail track on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta, in the past week.
"We have erected five new piles on Jl. HR Rasuna Said since early this month. We can install one pile per day. We expect the work to be finished by the end of July," the company's chief project officer Bovanantoo told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Bovanantoo said the company was prioritizing the construction of the five-kilometer line from its depot over the West Flood Canal to Casablanca, South Jakarta, which will be a test line.
"We will start trying to operate the monorail cars on this line next year," he added.
Word has it that the company is closer to the finalization of a deal with the project's new financiers.
The project had been brought to a halt for about six months amid difficulties in seeking foreign financiers in the project estimated to cost US$650 million.
Its financial difficulties had forced the Jakarta administration to extend the contract with the company for another six months, following the expiration of the contract on May 31, 2005.
"I heard that the company has found new financing partners. But, it has not submitted a progress report yet. We will meet soon," Governor Sutiyoso said.
Another source with the administration close to the project revealed that hopes were running high for the continuation of the project following the support of Vice President Jusuf Kalla through his company Bukaka Group.
However, PT Jakarta Monorail president director Ruslan Diwirjo declined to confirm this.
"We do have a preference among the investors. But, we have not made a final decision," Ruslan told the Post.
The company promised to announce the financiers next week.
Transportation experts have warned that the development of the monorail is not feasible, since it fails to connect with other public transportation systems, like the railway and buses, and therefore would serve few passengers.
New York-based non-governmental organization the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) had carried out a survey among 120,000 passengers using public transportation along the planned monorail routes and discovered that the demand was very low.
ITDP estimates that the 28-kilometer line will only serve 32,000 passengers per day.
Observers also said most residents would not be able to afford the fare of Rp 5,000 per single trip, much higher than fares for regular buses or trains, at around Rp 1,500, or half of the air- conditioned busway fare of Rp 2,500.
City secretary Ritola Tasmaya said that the administration would provide Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta, the east part of Senayan sports complex in Central Jakarta and Mal Taman Anggrek shopping mall in West Jakarta as parking space to encourage private car users to switch to the monorail.
"The electronic road pricing system, which will be managed by the administration, will be implemented simultaneously with the operation of the monorail," Ritola said.