T

he decision to construct at least one of the planned six inner-city toll roads is now in the hands of Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo after the meeting with the project stakeholders on Tuesday ended in deadlock.

“Not yet,” he said after the closed-door meeting at City Hall, answering journalists’ questions about his final decision on the project’s fate.

“This is not easy as it involves a Rp 42 trillion [US$4.3 billion] investment. I need more time [...] I will need one, two, probably six days.”

Earlier this month, Jokowi hinted at support for the project, which was expected to begin this year under the auspices of PT Jakarta Tollroad Development (JTD), to ease traffic.

Urban activists protested against the plan which they said would counteract the administration’s plans to shift commuters to public transportation, organizing a petition to protest the construction of the elevated toll roads.

“Neither side — those who oppose the construction or the project consortium — could reach an agreement, each of them insisted on their respective stances,” Jokowi said, adding that no one would accept the win-win solution offered by the governor when lobbying each group.

Transportation expert with the Institute of Transportation Studies (Instran) Darmaningtyas confirmed that the governor had offered an option to the stakeholders opposing the project.

“He offered an option of constructing only one toll road connecting Semanan and Bekasi. But we also said no to that,” he said, emphasizing that “we won’t change our stance”.

Darmaningtyas said that he had reminded the governor that the construction of the new toll roads might cause an even bigger environmental disaster in the future.

“If one argued that the plan was already stipulated in the RTRW, that was because the RTRW was drafted without public consultation,” he said, referring to the 2011-2030 Spatial Planning Bylaw (RTRW).

JTD president director Frans Sunito said that he had no other options but to await the governor’s final decision on the project.

“We are prepared to build six toll roads, but if the administration changes [the plan] we’ll wait,” he said.

He emphasized that the project’s financing scheme did not involve the city budget. “It’s 100 percent private funding — comprising 30 percent of cash flow and 70 percent of bank loans. The administration can use its budget [to develop] mass transportation,” Frans said.

He added that in the proposal, the consortium had planned to build elevated bus shelters along the toll roads to facilitate public buses. “The construction of the toll roads will not disrupt other public facilities.”

The proposed 67.9 kilometers of inner-city toll roads, a project initiated during the term of governor Sutiyoso, was planned to connect all five of Jakarta’s municipalities.

The planned first phase of construction includes a 17.8-kilometer road from Semanan, West Jakarta, to Sunter, North Jakarta and an 11-kilometer road from Sunter to Bekasi.

The routes from Duri Pulo, Central Jakarta, to Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, and from Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, to Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, are planned for the second phase.

The third part of the project would connect Ulujami, South Jakarta, to Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, and the fourth would connect Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, to the Casablanca area of South Jakarta.

During his election campaign, Jokowi — along with his running mate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama — promised that he would not endorse the project, saying that he would prioritize developing mass transportation to shift people from private cars.