MRT project is still in the pipedream
MRT project is still in the pipedream
JP/3/MRT
MRT project is still just a pipe dream
JAKARTA (JP): The construction of the urban Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system is still just a dream as the government has not yet selected any private companies to carry out the massive project.
"The government has not yet made any definite decisions on this matter," Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto told reporters here Tuesday, adding that the Jabotabek Mass Transit Development Agency, chaired by Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance Saleh Afiff, is dealing with the matter.
Haryanto made the remark after opening a one-day presentation by Bombardier Inc., a Canadian-based manufacturer of transportation equipment, at the Jakarta Hilton Hotel.
Haryanto said there are no private investors or companies whose proposals have been approved by the government to take up the billion-dollar project.
Last year, PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, a private construction company owned by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, the eldest daughter of President Soeharto, was among the private companies reported to have submitted a proposal to build aeromovels -- an elevated tollway and mass rapid transportation system -- from Kota, West Jakarta, to Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.
Apart from the offers proposed by domestic private companies, last year Haryanto also said some foreign countries were offering to provide the Indonesian capital city with such a system.
In the seminar, a high-ranking official of the ministry of transportation, when asked to comment on Haryanto's remark, told The Jakarta Post that the government is still unable to make any decisions because none of the many institutions involved in the decision-making process of the MRT project dare initiate a joint decision.
"Whenever there are coordination meetings, the institutions involved usually send low ranking officials who are not authorized to make decisions. The result, of course, is no decision," the official said.
Action
Hence, the government must take action to end this inability to arrive at a decision, said the official, who requested anonymity.
Institutions involved in the discussions of the mass transit system project are the city administration, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works, the Coordinating Ministry for Economy and Finance, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).
When asked why none of the institutions dare to make decisions, the official said that since the project will involve a huge sum of money, the institutions may be reluctant to do so in order not to be blamed if things go wrong in the future.
Last year, Haryanto estimated the total cost of the project at US$1.6 billion for the infrastructure, including land appropriation, and $1.5 billion for the trains.
A foreign consultant who is working on studies for the project, and who also requested anonymity, told the Post that so far no institution is able to assume all the responsibilities for the project.
"There is not even an agency responsible for it," he said, adding that the Jabotabek Mass Transit Development Agency, has not yet been appointed by a presidential decree and hence, cannot be held responsible for the project.(arf)