VP agrees on capital's costly subway project
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri has given her approval to the city's US$1.5 billion Fatmawati-Kota subway project, a city official said on Wednesday.
City administration Spokesman Muhayat said the vice president's approval was obtained during a visit of Governor Sutiyoso to Megawati's residence in the Kebagusan subdistrict, South Jakarta, on Tuesday evening.
"Vice President Megawati agreed on the need to have a subway system in the city.
"She promised Governor Sutiyoso that she would bring the proposal to the next government-to-government talks with the Japanese government," Muhayat said at City Hall on Wednesday.
He said the project was badly needed by the city to overcome problems of traffic congestion, which could not be settled only through the construction of flyovers and the city's Jabotabek trains.
Muhayat said the traffic jams had caused the city to suffer losses of US$900 million every year while gasoline consumption had significantly increased over the past 10 years.
Head of the city office of the Ministry of Transportation, Iskandar Abubakar, said separately on Wednesday that the construction of the prestigious Fatmawati-Kota subway project would likely start in 2001 after being postponed due to the prolonged economic crisis.
He said the project was expected to be financed by a special yen loan, with a 7.5 percent annual interest rate, from the Japanese government.
"Japanese and German consortia are interested in taking part in the project. We are sure that many local firms would also be interested," Iskandar said during a break in a seminar on the City's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) held by the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) at Hotel Aryaduta in Central Jakarta.
He said the project was expected to start in 2001 since its original design -- although in need small adjustments -- had been completed in 1996.
He said the Japanese government had shown a commitment to give the loan which has a maturity period of 40 years, including a grace period of 10 years.
The first-phase construction of the 15-kilometer project would begin from Fatmawati in South Jakarta to the National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta, with 13 stations before it continued to downtown Kota in West Jakarta, he said.
Present at the seminar were Deputy Governor Budihardjo Sukmadi, head of the City Development Planning Agency Bambang Sungkono and city councillors.
Most of the seminar participants supported the proposal and urged the central government to make the MRT project a national priority.
"The central government should be involved in the MRT project," MTI chairman Suyono Dikun said, while citing examples of other countries which have developed similar subway systems.
Suyono suggested the infrastructure of the project should be financed by the government, while the operational costs by private investors.
An executive of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Ali Imron said former president B.J. Habibie had agreed to continue the project and had asked the Japanese government to disburse the loan.
"But the World Bank later sent a letter signed by its country director Dennis de Tray, expressing their disagreement and asked the Indonesian government to review the project," Imron said.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) of the project was signed in 1995 between the central government, the city administration and an Indonesian-Japanese-European consortium.
The consortium includes Japanese companies led by the Itochu Corp., European firms led by Ferrostaal AG of Germany and Indonesian firms led by PT Citra Lamtorogung, PT Bukaka Teknik Utama, PT Bakrie Investindo, PT Pembangunan Jaya, PT Lippo, PT Suhamthabie and PT Steady Safe. (jun)