Unclear authority hampers transportation project
JAKARTA (JP): Unclear authority in transportation management is a major constraint to large-scale public transportation projects here, observers say.
They were responding to recent developments regarding a proposal to build a subway from Blok M, South Jakarta, to downtown Kota, and another proposal to build a three-tier system consisting of an elevated railway, toll road and artery road from Bintaro, South Jakarta, to Kota.
Bhenyamin Hoessein, who teaches state administration at the University of Indonesia, said yesterday that transportation could be better managed if a single authority in charge of large-scale transportation projects was established.
Some years ago, plans to form such an authority were announced but nothing came of it.
Without a single authority, Bhenyamin said, plans to improve railway services would face problems.
Djoko Sujarto of the Bandung-based Institute of Technology said a presidential decree to back up the municipality's role in transportation projects was still needed given the variety of parties involved.
A source requesting anonymity said yesterday that people working on the subway project "had a headache" with certain "powers".
He said it was not so much the lack of clarity in transportation management than the influence of powerful parties with diverse interests.
The subway plan, which the city earlier announced would start this year, has been postponed indefinitely.
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja confirmed construction of the subway would not begin this year. State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, who heads the subway's steering committee, said earlier that investors had not come up with an independent financial proposal which would not strain the government's budget.
The investors in the consortium, called the Indonesia Japan European Group, is headed by Aburizal Bakrie. Bambang Trihatmodjo, one of President Soeharto's sons, was scheduled earlier this year to sign a memorandum of understanding symbolizing his participation in the group. However, the signing has not taken place.
Another option, a three-tiered system, was proposed by PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, owned by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, the President's eldest daughter. Both parties and city officials have said that in view of Jakarta's traffic conditions, both projects might be needed. The Citra Group has gained permits for the project from the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Public Works.
The need for a presidential decree, initially considered a prerequisite for the subway project, has not been decided on.
Representatives of both projects have said they would wait for a presidential decree if it was needed.
Deputy Governor of Economic and Development Affairs Tb. M. Rais earlier said a decree was needed to clarify the role of the municipality in large-scale transportation projects.
Djoko, a professor in urban planning, said without a presidential decree, the governor would be in an unclear position in relation to, for instance, the minister of transportation.
However the anonymous official said a presidential decree might not work either, given the city's experience in the reclamation project along the North Jakarta coast.
Bhenyamin said conflicts of interest were common among officials, but a way out was not impossible.
"It is a characteristic of our bureaucracy," he said.
He suggested the formation of a transportation authority for large-scale projects, which he said should be coordinated by the governor.
The director general of land transport under the Ministry of Transportation, and high-ranking officials of other ministries such as the Ministry of Public Works, should sit down and discuss it with the governor, he said.
This is because large projects could be regarded as national projects in the capital, Bhenyamin said.
According to the 1981 Law on the status of Jakarta as the capital, the governor answers to the President on national activities, he said. (ste/anr)