T

he Transportation Ministry announced that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has agreed to provide Rp 9 trillion (US$1 billion) for the construction of the first stage of a 15.7-kilometer mass rapid transit (MRT) project linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta with the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono confirmed that the Japanese agency had made its committment to finance the project. “Shovels will hit the ground in early 2012,” Bambang said on Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He said work on the final design for the project would wrap up later this year.

Bambang said the project would need at least Rp 600 billion per kilometer. “Actually, we would have to spend Rp 1 trillion per kilometer if the entire network were underground. But as some sections of the network will be above-ground, we can spend less,” he said.

Earlier, the city government had projected that the MRT project would cost Rp 15.5 trillion.

The city also plans to launch a second 8.1 kilometer-long MRT line running between the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta by 2018.

In Jakarta’s budget proposal for 2012, Governor Fauzi Bowo has earmarked Rp 2.89 trillion for transportation development, including further development of the Transjakarta Bus Rapid Transit, the MRT system and two elevated roads.

Part of the money will be allocated merely for land clearing for the planned MRT routes.

The first track, which is expected to be completed in 2016, will pass through areas, including Fatmawati; Cipete; Blok A; Blok M; and Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta; and commercial districts along Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta.

The first MRT track will have six underground stations and seven above-ground stations along the route.

The six underground stations will be siuated at Al-Azhar mosque, Senayan; Bendungan Hilir; Setiabudi; Dukuh Atas; and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. Seven overground stations will be built at Lebak Bulus; Fatmawati; Cipete Raya; H. Nawi; Blok A; Blok M; and Sisingamangaraja.

The president director of city-owned PT MRT Jakarta, Tribudi Rahardjo, said the construction would affect phone lines, electricity cables, water pipes, sewers and fiber-optic lines.

PT MRT Jakarta confirmed that areas most affected by the public utility network relocation would be those where MRT stations were constructed.

The first MRT line, connecting Lebak Bulus and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, is expected to have capacity for 412,000 passengers per day.

PT MRT also expects the system to reduce travel times in downtown Jakarta; for example, to travel from Lebak Bulus to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle should only take 30 minutes, rather than two hours.

Once the second track is completed, a trip from Lebak Bulus to Kampung Bandan would only take 52.5 minutes, according to the company

Studies also show that the MRT will cut Jakarta’s carbon dioxide emissions by 0.7 percent, or 93.663 tons per year.

Construction of the MRT is also expected to create thousands of new jobs.

PT MRT said that during the construction stage alone, the company would hire more than 48,000 workers.