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)