I

ndonesia is on track to have its first MRT system in 2019.

PT MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar said on Tuesday phase one of the construction, spanning from Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, was at 91.86 percent completion as of Feb. 25.

“Completion of the elevated section is currently at 87.99 percent, while the underground section is at 95.76 percent,” said William, adding that it was exactly 366 days from the Mar. 1 operating target at the time of his presentation.

William also said the company did not have any significant hurdles in the progress of the construction, despite the recent nationwide moratorium on 37 elevated infrastructure projects by the Public Works and Housing Ministry.

The ministry handed out a temporary two-week ban on elevated infrastructure projects following a series of construction-related accidents that resulted in several fatalities.

The construction of Jakarta’s MRT is not without its controversies. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan in December blamed several transportation construction projects, including the MRT, as the main cause of flooding in several spots around the city. In November, a concrete segment at the MRT construction site in Jl. Wijaya, South Jakarta, fell and struck a passing motorcyclist.

To help with the construction of the track, 1,300 additional personnel would be deployed.

Meanwhile, MRT Jakarta director of operation and maintenance Agung Wicaksono said a number of employees had been sent to state-owned electricity firm PLN to undergo training, as he believes that PLN is the best place for its staff to learn.

“The training lasted for 10 days, from Feb. 19 to 28, in PLN’s plant in Semarang. The employees are expected to learn how to operate the central substation,” said Agung, adding that the employees would learn operation of electric-powered systems, substation protection and operation, as well as monitoring of the substation equipment.

According to William, work on phase one of the MRT system is expected to be finished by the end of the year, with a trial run without passengers in December.

MRT Jakarta plans to operate a total of 16 trains, with six cars each. Two MRT trains are expected to arrive from Japan by the end of March.

Concurrently, phase two of the system, which will connect the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and Kampung Bandan, North Jakarta, will also begin construction at the end of 2018. MRT Jakarta is currently in the process of procuring land for the planned route.

The 7.8-kilometer route for phase two will be served by eight stations, one of which will be above ground level. However, MRT Jakarta convened with an independent consultant in December, which resulted in changes to five of the stations.

“The Harmoni, Sawah Besar, and Mangga Besar stations were originally planned to be below a river. We plan to move the stations to be under Jl. Gajah Mada to allow easier construction, as we will not have to divert the river,” said William.

Meanwhile, the station in Kota, which was originally planned to be between KAI Kota Station and the BNI building, will be moved under Jl. Pintu Besar. Consequently, Glodok Station will be moved slightly to the south to keep distance between stations. (jlm)