The Jakarta administration announced plans to work with the central government to resuscitate the city’s terminated monorail project.
“The scheme is being finalized and will be announced next week,” Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said after meeting with top government officials Thursday regarding the capital’s worsening congestion.
Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said financing would be sourced from both government and private sector investments.
“We are open to various [financing] options, including capital sharing [between the central government and the administration] and overseas investment,” he said, adding that the operational and maintenance aspects would be handed to a third party.
Thursday’s meeting at the Vice Presidential Palace was attended by Vice President Boediono and Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi.
At the meeting, Boediono appointed the head of the Presidential Work Unit for Development Monitoring and Control (UKP4), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, to head the team tackling the capital’s congestion issues.
The city’s monorail project was canceled in 2008, when developer PT Jakarta Monorail officially stopped the project due to legal and financial problems.
A consortium from the Middle East led by the Dubai Islamic Bank had earlier agreed to secure a US$500 million loan, but dropped out after the Islamic financing scheme it offered was not possible under Indonesian regulations.
The administration announced that it would take over the monorail project from the developer but both parties have not agreed on the amount paid for a number of concrete columns already constructed for the project.
Jakarta Monorail estimates the idle pillars, stretching from Patal Senayan to Pejompongan in South Jakarta, were worth Rp 600 billion (US$66 million), but the city insists that the current eyesores should be valued at Rp 204 billion.
“We are not decided on this matter, but in this case, we cannot demand much,” Jakarta Monorail director Sukmawati Syukur told The Jakarta Post via telephone.
While the financing of a mass transportation system is prone to complex issues, the administration has resorted to more affordable infrastructure projects, including construction of flyovers and six toll roads.
The administration has started construction on two elevated roads connecting Jl. Pangeran Antasari to Blok M in South Jakarta, and Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.
The Rp 2.2 trillion project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012.
Traffic congestion in the city is estimated to cost road users Rp 12.8 trillion annually, or close to the cost of the first phase of the MRT’s construction.
Vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat said this figure was an estimate of the higher costs to operate a vehicle, depreciation and lost opportunities resulting from long commutes.
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