City Council delays passing MRT bylaws

Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 05/07/2008 9:39 AM  |  City

The City Council has delayed approval of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system draft ordinance, which was scheduled to be passed Monday.

Two factions of the council requested a deadline extension, causing the delay.

The factions of the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) have asked for more time to examine the proposed financial scheme, Deputy Speaker Maringan Pangaribuan said Tuesday.

"They said they needed to determine whether the city budget would be adequate to pay foreign debts for the MRT," said Maringan, who chairs a team tasked to formulate the draft and is also a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Maringan said he did not understand which figures the two factions needed to review.

"The calculations are already stipulated in the draft ordinance," he said.

"The two factions have one week to reach a conclusion," he said at the council, adding the team would hold another meeting Monday prior to a plenary session.

Members of the team Achmad Suaidy, of the PPP, and Syamsidar Siregar, of PAN, were unavailable for comment.

Syamsidar said previously she opposed the implementation of the MRT system because the public had not been well-informed of the project.

"The funding for the MRT, which comes from foreign loans, is an issue because the administration will have to pay the debts using the city budget," she said.

"The city will also have to allocate subsidies for the projects operation when it is up and running."

As a consequence, the project would cost the city Rp 1 trillion (US$108.6 million) annually, said Syamsidar, who is also a member of Commission B on economic affairs.

She suggested the administration revive existing railways for mass transportation and allocate the money to education and public welfare programs instead.

In an effort to overcome Jakarta's chronic traffic woes, the administration and the central government are working on the Rp 8.3 trillion MRT project using loans provided by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation with an interest rate of 0.4 percent per annum.

The government will pay 42 percent of the loans, while the administration will cover the remainder.

The administration also plans to allocate Rp 85 billion in subsidies for MRT operations in 2015, when the system is in place.

In the first phase of the development, expected to start construction in 2010, railway lines will be installed stretching 14.3 kilometers from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.