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akarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said the city was ready to launch two massive construction projects in 2011, the mass rapid transit (MRT)project and the dredging of 13 rivers running through Jakarta.

Jakarta would start auctioning off the MRT project early in the second semester of 2011, he said on Tuesday.

“The construction of the MRT will be financed by loans from Japan, which have been guaranteed, of which 58 percent of the responsibility will fall to the local administration and 42 percent to the central government,” Fauzi said after receiving the 2011 List of Approved Budget Allocations from President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono at the Presidential Palace.

The list includes the central government’s approval of Jakarta’s proposal for the 2011 regional budget of Rp 27 trillion (US$3 billion).

The city administration said construction on the first stage of the 15.2 km MRT project, linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, should commence next year and be completed in 2016.

The first stage involves the construction of seven elevated MRT stations and six underground stations.

The construction of the 8.1 kilometers secondary route linking the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta will kick off in 2014 and be completed in 2018.

Japan agreed to finance the project in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Indonesian Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa and Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Seiji Maihara at the Bali Democracy Forum earlier this month.

The MoU outlines the two countries’ agreements on a number of cooperative efforts in investment and industrial sectors to support the development of Greater Jakarta areas, worth about $20 billion in total.

Fauzi also said his administration would start dredging 13 rivers in Jakarta next year to reduce the worsening flooding problem in the capital.

“In line with the commitment from the finance minister, I will do integrated work in dredging the 13 rivers, which will mitigate flooding in Jakarta,” he said as quoted by Antara.

“Presently, with the completion of the BKT [East Flood Canal], we can reduce flooding by 30 percent. With the dredging it can be further reduced by 10 percent,” Fauzi added.

Construction on the BKT, a 23.5-kilometers canal in east Jakarta, began in 2003 and is nearing completion. Jakarta allocated Rp 1.36 trillion for flood mitigation programs in 2011, including dredging rivers and building dams as well as procuring more mobile pumps.