Sutiyoso upbeat on President's nod to subway project
Sutiyoso upbeat on President's nod to subway project
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso won more support on Thursday
for the planned construction of the country's first subway system
after President Abdurrahman Wahid signaled his approval to the
US$1.5 billion project.
"I think the President will soon summon myself, the ministers
of finance and communication and the appointed National
Development Planning Board chairman Junaedi Hadisumarto to
discuss the matter," Sutiyoso told reporters after meeting the
President at the State Palace.
Last month Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri gave her
approval to the Fatmawati-Kota subway project.
"The subway project is important not only because it will help
ease traffic congestion in the capital, but it will also absorb
some 60,000 (currently unemployed) construction workers and
provide opportunities for domestic industries, such as cement,
steel and railway carriage construction," Sutiyoso said as quoted
by Antara.
The city administration estimates the subway project will save
the city an annual US$900 million caused by traffic jams.
The city administration originally planned the project some
years ago but had to postpone it because it was considered too
expensive.
The subway will stop at 13 stations along a 15-kilometer route
from Fatmawati in South Jakarta to the National Monument (Monas)
park in Central Jakarta, before continuing to downtown Kota in
West Jakarta.
The Japanese government has given a commitment to finance the
project, promising a special yen loan with a 7.5 percent yearly
interest rate. The special loan 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, the 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 agreed to
continue the project and asked the Japanese government to
disburse the loan.
The World Bank's director Dennis de Tray, however, disagreed
and sent a letter asking the Indonesian government to review the
project.
The subway's construction is scheduled to start in 2001. Its
design, still in need of minor adjustments, was completed in
1996.
The firms involved in the construction might include the
Japanese consortium Itochu Corp., the German Ferrostaal AG and
the Indonesian firms of PT Bakrie Investindo, PT Bukaka Teknik
Utama, PT Citra Lamtorogung, PT Lippo, PT Pembangunan Jaya, PT
Steady Safe and PT Suhamthabie. (05)