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ouncilors have expressed their skepticism about the monorail project, saying Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo should not let his enthusiasm for the project blind him to the potential problems.

Chairman of Commission B overseeing transportation Selamat Nurdin criticized the governor'€™s decision to lead the launch ceremony for the project in October last year, despite there being no fully developed business plan.

'€œWhy is it a big deal now? Why are we suddenly talking about business plans and performance bonds long after the project was launched? It'€™s too late for the governor [to step back] so he probably has to save face in front of Jakarta residents by continuing the project no matter what,'€ Selamat said at his office on Thursday.

He also expressed his concern over the sustainability of the project, which will cost trillions of rupiah.

'€œWe have reminded the executive about the possibility of the city providing subsidies for the monorail because it is a very expensive project and will entail huge operational costs. We have summoned PT JM [Jakarta Monorail] but none of its representatives has ever shown up,'€ he pointed out.

Selamat called on the governor to think strategically rather than simply forcing the project through. '€œHe should think about this carefully and forget about his ambition to leave a legacy for Jakarta,'€ he said.

Separately, City Council deputy speaker Boy Bernadi Sadikin shared a similar sentiment, saying that the monorail project was unlikely to be profitable.

'€œMonorail projects have failed in countries like Thailand. PT JM is a private company so it will rely on ticket sales and probably from advertisement revenue, but it doesn'€™t have malls or commercial establishments to generate profits. The route is not popular either,'€ Boy said. '€œI bet that the city administration will end up sharing the burden eventually,'€ he added.

PT JM has proposed building two routes: the first being the green line that will serve Kuningan-Kuningan Central-Gatot Subroto-Senayan-Asia Afrika-Pejompongan-Karet-Dukuh Atas-Kuningan.

The second route, the blue line, will serve Kampung Melayu-Tebet-Kuningan-Casablanca-Tanah Abang-Roxy-Taman Anggrek. PT JM plans to operate seven trains, each consisting of four cars in the green line, and six trains consisting of six cars each on the blue line.

Each car can accommodate up to 198 passengers.

Experts have raised concerns over the feasibility of the green line, saying that it is only a '€œlunch route'€ as it only travels around business district areas, thus, the monorail will not solve the capital'€™s traffic issues.

JM president director John Aryananda denies that the route will only be a tourist route, saying that the lines were part of a bigger transportation development plan.

'€œWe are building a total of 30 kilometers of track. We have to see this as part of the capital'€™s development plan as a whole. The tracks will be connected to other tracks. They can be to Bekasi or Cibubur [West Java] like PT Adhi Karya'€™s plan,'€ he said, referring to the state-owned developer which, along with a number of other state-owned companies, has proposed building other monorail lines connecting the capital'€™s downtown to suburban areas.

The monorail project has once again triggered concern among stakeholders since it was unveiled that Jokowi has not yet signed a renewed contract with the project operator due to disputed clauses.

The old contract had expired after PT JM failed to pay PT Adhi Karya for rows of support pillars along roads in Senayan, Central Jakarta and Kuningan, South Jakarta.

The city administration added a new clause to the contract, demanding that JM pay up to 5 percent of the total investment value of US$1.5 million in performance bonds, which would be taken by the city if the company failed to complete the project within three years.

'€œI want it to be 5 percent. But we are now negotiating [the figure],'€ Jokowi said. Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said on Friday that the Monorail project'€™s fate would be decided by the end of this month.

'€œIf JM can not fulfill all requirements for the cooperation agreement, let'€™s just forget about it,'€ he said.

Ahok said if the project was canceled, it would not affect the city administration but the fate of the existing 90 pillars would once again be unclear.

'€œThe pillars are problematic as they belong to Adhi Karya but are erected on our land,'€ he said.

Ahok said, therefore, a new clause would be inserted into the draft contract agreement, stating that if JM failed to complete the project in five years, the city administration would take over the project'€™s assets.

'€œThe clause is advantageous to the public. If the project is successful, we will get the monorail while if it fails, we will get the assets, including the pillars, for free,'€ he said.