T

he Jakarta administration said that construction on six new inner-city toll roads could not start until the city council endorsed Jakarta’s new spatial planning legislation.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Thursday that a new bylaw on spatial planning would serve as a legal foundation for the toll road project.

“We are ready to begin the project, but we are still waiting for the bylaw. I hope [the council] can deliver the regulation by the end of this month,” Fauzi told reporters at City Hall.

The Public Works Ministry will supervise the project, estimated to cost Rp 40 trillion (US$4.72 billion).

The Jakarta administration has appointed two city-owned construction companies, PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) and PT Pembangunan Jaya, to form a consortium, PT Jakarta Toll Road Development, to bid for the project.

Fauzi is upbeat that the city-run company could win the project.

Jakpro president director I Gusti Ketut Gde Suena said the city administration was ready to finance the project. “The city proposed the project and we have calculated costs for the project,” Suena said.

Construction on the first two new roads, which will connect Semanan to Pedongkelan in West Jakarta and Sunter in North Jakarta to Pulogebang in East Jakarta, is planned to begin in November. “But since the spatial planning has yet to be approved, we can only start early next year,” Suena said.

The city earmarked Rp 11.1 trillion for the Semanan-Pedongkelan and Sunter-Pulogebang roads, which will be a combined length of 27.7 kilometers.

The four other planned segments will connect Ulujami in South Jakarta and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta and Casablanca in East Jakarta, Duri Pulo in Central Jakarta and Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta as well as Kampung Melayu and Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.

— JP/Andreas D. Arditya