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ity-owned project operator PT MRT Jakarta announced the final project tenders for the mass rapid transit (MRT) project on Tuesday.

The company is currently working on two remaining tender packages for the railway infrastructure and rolling stock. The bidding processes of both packages, which started in August 2012 and April 2012, are expected to be completed in November and December, respectively.

'€œWith the progress of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock, our management is confident that this project will be completed on time,'€ MRT Jakarta president director Dono Boestami said in a press statement.

The two participants who passed the pre qualification process for the railway infrastructure tender were Sumitomo Corporation and a consortium of four companies comprising Marubeni-Toshiba-Sumitomo Mitsui Construction-Wika Jo, Kawasaki Heavy Industries-Itochu JV, Mitsubishi-Hitachi-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Jaya Konstruksi JO and Mitsui-Kobelco-Toyo-IKPT (Metro One Consortium).

Meanwhile, four participants who passed the pre qualification process for the rolling stock tender were Hitachi-Mitsui Consortium, Sumitomo Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation and Kawasaki-Itochu JV.

Dono said the winners of each package must complete their work in 185 weeks.

When asked about the value of the packages, he said he had not been given the details, saying the documents were still at the Railway Directorate General in the Transportation Ministry.

'€œPT MRT Jakarta carries out the tenders. However, the Transportation Ministry is in charge of the HPS [Owner'€™s Estimate],'€ he said in a text message to The Jakarta Post.

The construction of the first phase of the MRT project will be funded by a ¥125 billion (US$1.19 billion) soft loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and another $143 million from the city budget.

The MRT construction project is divided into eight packages, comprising three underground projects, three elevated projects, the MRT infrastructure and MRT rolling stock. Previously, the company had completed six tenders for the elevated and underground civil projects.

The construction of the MRT line from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta kicked off in
October last year and is expected to finish in 2017. It will be able to accommodate 173,000 passengers
per day.

Director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Yoga Adiwinarto said the tedious process of the project was understandable because of the complicated technical and financial aspects.

'€œMost residents support the MRT project, which is a big asset for this project. I hope the company is fully committed in carrying out the project and will complete it on time,'€

However, he disagreed with focusing on the construction of the south-north route, because most public transportation commuters travelled between the western and eastern parts of Greater Jakarta.