D

espite doubts surrounding the long-stalled monorail project, consortium PT Jakarta Monorail (JM) says it is upbeat about the project and its delivery time.

The company was given until September to fulfill six requirements for the business plan, including the design of the monorail depot and stations, spatial plan analysis and an investment guarantee.

Previously, the city administration added a new clause to the draft agreement with the company, demanding that PT 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.

Should PT JM fail to meet the terms, the city administration could kick the company off the project.

PT JM president director John Aryananda said that the company would soon complete three out of the six requirements demanded by Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

'€œIn the near future, we will complete the environmental impact analysis [Amdal] and analysis of traffic impact during construction. The matter regarding investment guarantee has also been made clear,'€ he told reporters after meeting with Jokowi at City Hall on Wednesday.

He said that the company would complete the first three requirements by Sept. 30, while the remaining three would be completed soon.

'€œThere are no significant challenges. We will revise the details in the design,'€ he said.

Separately, Jokowi acknowledged that he had not yet been satisfied by the current explanation.

'€œIt was really technical, but I want details. For example, where would they build the stations? If they want to build a station in a particular area, where they would build the pillars? On a pedestrian sidewalk? Would that be feasible?'€ Jokowi said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama expressed his skepticism over the project.

'€œCan they provide evidence that they have the money to finance the project? They asked for rights to use 200,000 square meters of land [in Tanah Abang] for 50 years. With my signature, they could make offers to possible vendors and might earn funds, which they would probably use to build the project. If that'€™s the case, it'€™s better for the city to just take over the project,'€ he said.

Ahok has repeatedly questioned PT JM'€™s ability to construct the monorail network in the city, as the company has failed to show its minimum capital for financing the project and to submit the construction design since last year.

The company originally proposed building two lines: the Green Line, which would serve Kuningan-Kuningan Sentral-Gatot Subroto-Senayan-Asia Afrika-Pejompongan-Karet-Dukuh Atas-Kuningan; and the Blue Line, which would serve Kampung Melayu-Tebet-Kuningan-Casablanca-Tanah Abang-Roxy-Taman Anggrek.

'€” JP/Sita W. Dewi