T

he city administration is set to announce the much-awaited mass rapid transit (MRT) project winner as there have been no objections filed by the other bidders.

'€œThe winner will be announced on Thursday at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle,'€ Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.

The announcement, which has been called the project'€™s '€œsoft launch'€, will be attended by Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and executives of the project operator, city-owned PT MRT Jakarta.

PT MRT Jakarta announced the project winner to the project bidders last week, but declined to reveal it to the public to allow five days for the other bidders to file any complaints about the decision. PT MRT Jakarta president director Dono Boestami declined to comment on the soft launch plan. '€œIf there are no changes, then tomorrow [Thursday] it is,'€ he said.

The construction of the first MRT track, which will connect Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, will be partially funded with a ¥125 billion (US$1.27 million) soft loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The central government has agreed to repay 49 percent of the loan while the administration will repay the rest over 40 years, after a grace period of 10 years, and at an annual interest rate of less than 1 percent.

The mega-project received the green light from the Jakarta Legislative Council on Tuesday with the endorsement of the Mid-Term Regional Development Plan (RPJMD) 2013'€“2017 draft into a bylaw. Apart from the MRT, the development plan includes three other infrastructure mega-projects: a monorail, a giant sea wall and a deep tunnel.

The 15.7-kilometer first phase of the MRT will have six underground stations, seven elevated stations and is expected to transport around 173,000 passengers daily. The MRT is being touted as one of the solutions to the capital'€™s enduring gridlock.