City set to procure buses

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 07/03/2009 2:56 PM  |  City

In a step that seemed to end the protracted delay on the operation of Corridor 9 and 10 of the TransJakarta busway, the city administration said Thursday it was set to start procuring buses for those corridors this year.

Deputy Governor Prijanto said the administration earmarked Rp 75 billion (US$7.3 million) from this year's revised budget for a down payment on the buses. The next instalments will use the year's budget.

"We will set a bidding process to determine the corridors' operators. Those who offer the lowest fare per kilometer *each bus journey* will be the tender winners," Prijanto told reporters Thursday.

He said the administration was determined to buy the buses from national companies rather than importing them.

Hendah Sunugroho, an official with the city transportation agency, said Corridor 9 and 10 would need 139 buses.

The Corridor 9 runs from Pinang Ranti in East Jakarta to Pluit, North Jakarta, while Corridor 10 runs from Cililitan in East Jakarta to Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta.

"The procurement of the 139 buses will cost around Rp 300 billion," Hendah said over the phone.

Hendah said the buses would be two types: ordinary buses and articulated ones, adding the shelters along the corridors had been designed to adapt to the articulated buses.

An articulated bus can carry up to 150 passengers, almost double the capacity of an ordinary bus.

The operation of those corridors and also the Corridor 8 from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Harmoni in Central Jakarta, have missed several deadlines amid procurement problems. The corridor 8 has been launched in February, but partially amid the lack of buses.

Sugiyanta, deputy head of the Regional Planning Board (Bapeda), said transportation projects would take up the lion's share of the additional spending in the revised budget. The administration plans to spend an extra Rp 1.4 trillion this year. The extra spending will be taken from the surplus of the 2008 budget standing Rp 4.44 trillion.

He said the deliberation on the revised budget was still underway and the draft later would be submitted to the City Council for approval.

Aside from transportation, the administration will also use the extra spending to fund projects in flood mitigation, garbage management, education, health, environmental campaigns as well as salaries for civil servants.

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