J

akarta Governor Fauzi Bowo emphasized city transportation in his latest accountability report, citing a 49.2 percent annual increase in Transjakarta bus passengers.

Fauzi presented his 2008 accountability report in front of the City Council on Tuesday, his first since he was elected governor of Jakarta in 2007.

In his report, he said his office had completed the construction of Transjakarta busway corridors 8 and 9, repaired bus stops and busway lanes in corridors 1 to 7, as well as repaired the Transjakarta bus pool in Daan Mogot, West Jakarta - all legacies of former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso - with a budget of Rp 86.87 billion.

He reported a continuous increase in the numbers of Transjakarta passengers, from more than 60 million passengers in 2007 to almost 75 million passengers in 2008, an average annual increase of 49.2 percent. Almost 16 million passengers used the Transjakarta bus service in 2004, in its first year of running.

However, his claim for success came a bit late, as he promised to reduce widespread traffic jams by accelerating the construction of busway lanes in the first 100 days of his term.

Corridor 8 (linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Harmoni in Central Jakarta) was only launched in February 2009, while corridors 9 and 10 are still unused. The 30-kilometer corridor 9 connects Pinang Ranti in East Jakarta to Pluit in North Jakarta, while corridor 10 links Cililitan in East Jakarta to Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta.

Fauzi said his office was negotiating a fare per kilometer with the Transjakarta consortium.

"There is still a discrepancy in the fare per kilometer between the current one and the one previously agreed to during the bidding," he said.

"This problem is the main reason behind the delay in busway corridors 8,9 and 10," he said. If they reached a deadlock, the administration would bring this issue to the Indonesian Agency of National Arbitration (BANI).

Fauzi also updated the council on preparations for the 14.5-kilometer MRT route - linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta - project and the construction of the Pulo Gebang Bus Terminal.

He said his office could not complete the land acquisition for the MRT lanes and corridors in 2008, which was allocated Rp 62 billion.

"Currently we are studying alternative lanes for the MRT pre-construction," he said.

The administration has allocated Rp 40 billion from its 2009 budget for the initial project work.

The city administration received a 758 million yen (US$7.7 million) grant from the central government to speed up the construction.

For the construction of Pulo Gebang Bus Terminal in East Jakarta, scheduled to run in 2012, Fauzi said his administration was still negotiating with the Indonesian Toll Road Authority (BPJT) about building a new toll entrance from the terminal.

"If we build a new toll road entrance following the master plan and the initial design, the Toll Road Regulating Body will object, as the length between the two entrances will be less than 2 kilometers," Fauzi said.

A 2005 law on toll roads stipulates the length between two entrances should be at least 2 kilometers.

Another late project is the East Flood Canal, which Fauzi also promised to complete during his first 100 days as governor.

In his report, Fauzi also promised the land acquisition process for the Canal would be completed by mid-2009.

The city administration has encountered problems purchasing land to make way for the canal project, which aims to reduce floods in a 270-square-kilometer flood-prone area of East and North Jakarta. Currently 239.84 hectares or 58.65 percent of the total land needed has been acquired.

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