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North Sumatra invites South Korean firm to build LRT connecting 4 cities
LRT Mebidangro is expected to start operating next year.
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Residents ride the LRT Jakarta during a public trial run in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on June 11. (JP/Eisya A.)
T
he North Sumatra provincial administration is planning to build a light rapid transit (LRT) system next year to connect four cities: Medan, Binjai, Deli Serdang and Karo. The project will involve a South Korean public company, Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA), which financed LRT Jakarta.
North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi said he was glad that KRNA was willing to help build the LRT in North Sumatra.
“A team from South Korea will join forces with the Indonesian team. Let us work together to find a win-win solution,” he said on Thursday during a meeting to discuss the cooperation.
The LRT network, called LRT Mebidangro, is expected to start operating next year with a central station in Merdeka Medan field in Medan.
Medan Mayor Dzulmi Eldin said the project would be largely financed by the central government, but the provincial administration, as well as the Medan city budget, would also contribute.
The LRT’s financing scheme has been discussed with the National Development Planning Board and the Finance Ministry.
“All the construction costs would be borne by the central government. But we don’t have money for the rolling stock, about Rp 2.2 trillion [US$155.7 million],” he said, adding that he hoped KRNA would also decide to be an investor.
Korea Railroad Technical Corporation managing director Lee Jin-beck said he had been anticipating this cooperation for years.
“We’re here to make sure the project happens,” he said, adding that his company would be ready to hear suggestions from the Indonesian counterpart because Indonesia was like “our own sibling”.
