President renews support for Jakarta's MRT project

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid renewed his support on Thursday for the construction of the repeatedly postponed Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) project in the capital with the help of Japanese funds and technology.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with the President, Governor Sutiyoso said that Gus Dur also supported the city administration's plan to allow bus operators here to purchase a number of environmentally friendly buses from China, using a soft loan offered by Beijing, to replace the existing public buses in Jakarta which omit dangerous omission levels.

But it is still unclear whether Gus Dur's support means that Sutiyoso can go ahead with the project and discuss the matter with related parties, including ministers and interested foreign companies.

According to Sutiyoso, Gus Dur, during the meeting at the presidential palace, gave serious attention to the MRT project.

"The President gives his full attention to the halted project, which is under further evaluation," the governor said.

Sutiyoso, however, gave no more details on what his office is currently doing on the multibillion dollar project, which has been suspended for years due to massive political changes in the country.

About two months after being elected as the country's president, Gus Dur gave a signal of approval in December last year for the MRT project, which would connect Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota area in West Jakarta.

At that time, Sutiyoso told reporters after meeting with the President, he believed Gus Dur would soon summon him again together with related Cabinet ministers to discuss the matter further.

Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri gave her approval for the project a month earlier.

Sutiyoso on Thursday repeated his remarks by saying that: "The project will bring many advantages and opportunities to city residents as it will be labor intensive and apply high technology."

According to its initial design, the MRT project will be carried out in at least two stages. The first stage, costing around US$1.5 billion, will connect Fatmawati to the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta. It will combine both elevated track and subway.

There will be an elevated track from Fatmawati to Senayan with the possibility of being extended to Dukuh Atas, all in South Jakarta. Then it will continue underneath via a subway to Monas Park.

The second stage, construction cost of which has yet to be estimated, would start from Monas Park to Harmoni and then to Kota railway station. This stage will probably be underground.

According to an estimation made by the city administration, the project would save the city around $900 million.

The governor also said the project needed a laborforce of some 60,000 and would generate good opportunities for domestic industries.

"This is a great opportunity for our cement, steel and train manufacturers," he said.

"The Japanese government has given its commitment to let Indonesia manage the project, while only transferring the technology," Sutiyoso added.

The Japanese government has given a commitment to finance the project, promising a special yen loan with a 7.5 percent interest rate a year. The special loan package will have a maturity period of 40 years with a grace period of 10 years.

The memorandum of understanding on the project was signed in 1995 between the central government, city administration, and an Indonesian-Japanese-European consortium.

The project was postponed when the financial crisis hit Indonesia in mid 1997. Former president B.J. Habibie had actually agreed to continue the project by asking the Japanese government to disburse the loan.

Talking about the soft loan offered by the Chinese government for the purchase of its buses, Sutiyoso said the imported buses would be pollution-free vehicles and use liquefied petroleum gas instead of gasoline.

"Bus operators in Jakarta are expected to accept the loan to replace their aging buses. By doing so, they can also lessen the pollution level emitted from their current buses," he said.

"We'll also make sure the operators are able to afford the loan. The President instructed me to coordinate with other agencies to ensure the loan's affordability," he added.

According to him, the aging city buses could be used to serve pedestrians in other Indonesian cities.

The city's public buses are widely known for their deteriorating conditions and thick smoke emissions, and the limited number of buses force Jakarta's pedestrians to use the decrepit vehicles.

Data from the city reveals that there are some 12,800 minivans, 5,000 minibuses and 5,400 buses operating in the city. These figures include 743 broken regular buses from the state- owned bus company PPD, 1,083 regular buses, 2,131 Patas (express) buses and 1,454 Patas AC (air-conditioned express) buses.

Most bus operators blame the current poor condition of their vehicles to the skyrocketing prices of bus spare parts following the weakening position of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar. Most spare parts are still imported. (nvn)