Sutiyoso returns with projects

Sutiyoso returns with projects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a five-day official visit to Japan, Governor Sutiyoso
announced here on Tuesday that the monorail project would proceed
with Japanese firm Hitachi as its top investor, after the
original investor, Malaysia's MTrans Holding Sdn. Bhd., was
dropped on Monday.

"Their (Hitachi) offer costs more but it will be worth it as
the company has good quality monorail technology," he announced
at City Hall.

Hitachi offered to build the monorail for around US$600
million (more than Rp 5 trillion), higher than MTrans' $540
million offer.

Sutiyoso expressed optimism that with the new investor, the
monorail, both lucrative and less lucrative routes, would be
completed in two-and-a-half years and start operation by the end
of 2006.

"The monorail will be the largest project we start this year."

The lucrative route will be a 14.8-kilometer stretch serving
the capital's golden triangle of Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan
while the less-lucrative route will be a 12.2-kilometer route
from Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, to Roxy, West Jakarta.

The governor praised Hitachi for applying its monorail
technology in Japan for around 40 years without any errors or
fatal accidents.

"The monorail in Malaysia is good but has not been proven in
the long-run, unlike the Japanese," he said.

Malaysia launched its monorail late last year.

The Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) said on Monday that it had
dropped MTrans from the top investor list following the Malaysian
firm's failure to advise whether it would go ahead with the
project.

The memorandum of understanding between ITC and MTrans, which
was signed last year, expired on Feb. 28.

Besides observing the monorail in Japan, Sutiyoso also visited
Yokohama seaport, one of the largest seaports in Japan.

The governor said he was impressed by the seaport and would
transform Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta into a modern one
in a foreign direct investment scheme amounting to $75 million.

"Jakarta urgently needs a (modern) seaport that provides
better services and well-arranged facilities to make it more
competitive amid stiff competition among seaports in the
Southeast Asian region," he said.

Sutiyoso said that local company Marindo Bahtera Development
had offered to mediate between potential investors and the
administration for the project.

"The company told us it has access to banks in Japan, which
are willing to finance the project," he said, without mentioning
when the project would start.

"We must discuss the project first with relevant parties,
including the Ministry of Communications and seaport operator
Pelindo before it starts."

Sutiyoso criticized Tanjung Priok Port's poor conditions and
compared it with Yokohama seaport. He said the disorganized
working system in Tanjung Priok had made costs high and less
competitive.

He claimed that once Jakarta had a new seaport, businessmen
could reduce their expenses for loading activities by up to 10
times from current costs. The planned port will be able to
accommodate large vessels of up to 75,000 deadweight tons.