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Private firm to build deep tunnel within 3 years
Private contractor PT Antaredja Mulia Jaya will this year begin the construction of Jakartaâs first deep tunnel, dubbed an âintegratedâ tunnel, with its expected completion in three years
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rivate contractor PT Antaredja Mulia Jaya will this year begin the construction of Jakarta's first deep tunnel, dubbed an 'integrated' tunnel, with its expected completion in three years.
Company commissioner Wibisono said the company planned to construct two integrated tunnels, with the first connecting Bale Kambang, East Jakarta, to Manggarai, South Jakarta and another from Ulujami, South Jakarta, to Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.
Both will be 12 kilometers long and constructed 30 meters below ground level.
'The tunnel will help reduce flooding in Jakarta, not only functioning as a waterway, but also as a toll toad,' Wibisono told reporters after a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday.
He said there would be two levels ' one a road and the other a wastewater reservoir ' in the tunnel, with both functioning simultaneously. The facility, he said, was inspired by Malaysia's SMART tunnel.
He added that the company would fully fund the Rp 24 trillion (Rp 1.8 billion) project without contributions from the city or central governments.
'If there are no delays, we will finish construction in three years,' Wibisono said, pointing out the company was now focused on completing its study of the project.
The tunnel has been touted since 2007, when Jakarta was led by then governor Sutiyoso.
However, the project has often been slammed by experts, who say it is old fashioned and not eco-friendly.
More recently in 2013, then-governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo ordered the Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) and the administration's legal division to incorporate plans for a deep tunnel in drafts of the city's detailed spatial plan and zoning regulation for 2012-2013 and the mid-term regional development plan for 2013-2017, but no concrete plans materialized.
Separately, the deputy governor's spatial planning assistant, Tardjuki, said that Antaredja Mulia Jaya's plan still required some revisions and that the company would need to conduct another feasibility study.
'The plan is still very raw. The governor has asked that the company conduct another study,' Tardjuki told reporters at City Hall.
Meanwhile, urban analyst Yayat Supriatna said the city administration should choose carefully when it came to big projects.
'Even if this [deep tunnel] system has successfully been developed and operated in Kuala Lumpur, it doesn't mean it will work as well in Jakarta,' Yayat told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Wednesday.
He added that the system required substantial funding, but would be less effective in terms of water management.
'The city needs to think this through. This is not just another project,' he said.
