Public to get Subway project explanation

JAKARTA (JP): The public will be informed about the progress of the subway project as soon as financing and other matters are clear, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday.

Surjadi said not everything was clear yet.

"Sooner or later we will explain everything...I do not want to expose something which is not clear yet," Surjadi said yesterday.

This was because the project cost, estimated at US$2.2 billion, would determine the fares on the 14.5 kilometer subway, he said.

How the project would be funded is part of on-going discussions, he added.

"Because we do not have money we are looking for ways to attract investors. This will inevitably affect the fares which must be affordable to the public," the governor said after meeting with representatives of a German company, Ferrostahl AG.

It also remains unclear whether a presidential decree to clarify the municipality's role in mass public transportation projects is needed.

Ferrostahl is a member of the Indonesian Japanese European Group, the consortium partially financing the subway.

The group, headed by Chief Executive Officer K.V. Menges, was paying one of several courtesy calls, Surjadi said.

Ferrostahl was ready to begin the project with other consortium members as soon as financial matters were settled, said one of the representatives.

IJEG Chairman Aburizal Bakrie said, after a meeting last week on the Group's financial proposal, that subway construction could begin in June. The government had given the green light as long as loans were not government guaranteed.

He said the Group could raise 30 percent of funds while the rest could be secured from loans.

Yesterday Surjadi was responding to demand for immediate public explanation of what areas were likely to be affected by the project. The subway will ply the Blok M, South Jakarta to downtown Kota route with 17 stations.

Surjadi said there was no reason for the public to worry as most of construction work would be underground.

He declined to comment further on the schedule.

Offers to fund the project included loans from Germany but municipalities are not allowed to accept foreign government loans.

An earlier proposal from the subway's project unit to have the public pay for the city's share in the project, has yet to be heard of again.

"That was just one option," Surjadi said. The proposal said the city needed to raise $25 million per year for five years as equity, and another $35 million a year for 25 years to pay back loans.

"We are not too concerned about whether we have shares," the Governor said, "What is important is that we can provide public transport."

So far the city has not claimed involvement in another proposal, the three-level transit roadway from PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada led by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana. However officials and representatives of both IJEG and Citra have confirmed the possibility of the simultaneous construction of both projects.

Citra claims their project will begin on April 21. (anr)