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raising it as a great work of the Indonesian people, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hopes the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in Palembang, South Sumatra could pave the way to developing a new transportation culture in Indonesia.

Wearing a white shirt, an orange safety vest and a helmet, Jokowi tried out the light train service, which transported him and his entourage from Palembang Icon Station to Jakabaring Sport City Station, during his visit to Palembang on Friday.

The LRT route in Palembang stretches from Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport to the Jakabaring Sport City area. The train passes through several tourist areas and iconic landmarks of Palembang city such as the Grand Mosque, the Ampera Bridge, Benteng Kuto Besak and Musi River.

Jokowi said the LRT in Palembang was the first LRT ready to operate in Indonesia. He admitted that the project was initiated to welcome the 2018 Asian Games, of which Palembang is a host city, along with Jakarta. He insisted that after the sporting event was over, the LRT could still be used by the people.

Jokowi said the LRT would encourage people to use mass transportation as each trip only took around 10-15 minutes. “The most important thing is that a new culture, a safe and comfortable mode of transportation and a culture of waiting in line will be built once the LRT starts operating,” he told journalists.

Jokowi further said the LRT in Palembang proved that a big city in Indonesia could be successful in creating a mass transportation service that was much more efficient than private vehicles. Moreover, he added, the Palembang LRT was 90 percent built by “the sons of the nation”. Almost 95 percent of the construction materials were local, and 40 percent of the cars were manufactured by state-owned train manufacturer INKA. Only machines were imported, namely from Germany, he said.

“This is just a certification test. We tried to travel at high speed, but it was a bit slow [...] It seems it’s better than transportation services people are often impressed with when they travel in advanced European countries,” said Jokowi.

Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said he, as the LRT construction coordinator, was satisfied with what had been done by the three local contractors, namely INKA, LAN and Waskita Karya, involved in the project. He confirmed that more than 90 percent of the construction project was the work of the Indonesian people.

Waskita president director I Gusti Ngurah Putra said that the materials for the civil work construction activities were 100 percent local while concrete strands were still imported because no factory to produce this material had been built here.

I Gusti said that overall, President Jokowi was satisfied with the result of the construction project. For signal links, Waskita partnered with LAN, he said.

“One thing that can be called a ‘weakness’ in the project is that some of the bends are too sharp [...] so that on small turns, the train goes slowly. But despite all of those things, this transportation service is efficient and cheap,” said I Gusti.

Meanwhile, INKA director Budi Noviantoro said seven trains had been prepared for the Palembang LRT, six of which were ready to operate and the other one a back up.

Accompanied by First Lady Iriana, Jokowi arrived at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport at 8:50 a.m. local time. South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin and other local officials welcomed the President and his entourage. In his visit to Benteng Kuto Besak, Jokowi handed over land certificates to local people.

Jokowi said people in many regions had often complained about land disputes and this was particularly because they did not have documents that could prove their land-ownership status. Therefore, to accelerate the land certification process, Jokowi handed out over 6,000 land certificates in a ceremony at Plaza Benteng Kuto Besak in Palembang.