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Analysis: Jokowi insists on extending Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya
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Officers check the condition of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the Jakarta-Bandung Fast Train Project in Tunnel 1 in the Pondok Gede area, Bekasi DKI, Tuesday, 12/15/2020. The TBM machine has managed to penetrate the tunnel 1 tunnel structure along the 1.8 KM transverse under the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has insisted on proceeding with the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed railway (HSR) project by extending the Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya in East Java, likely with the same Chinese investors, despite the financial challenge of completing the Jakarta-Bandung project, which has been bogged down with delays and massive cost overruns.
It was Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi who recently revealed Jokowi’s insistence on extending the existing Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya via Kertajati, Purwokerto, Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Madiun to improve connectivity on Java Island, which contributes more than 55 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product. The southern extension of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya would cut on-land travel time from Jakarta to Surabaya, which is around 800 kilometers, from between nine and 12 hours now to four hours only.
“Pak President as a visionary leader laid the foundations of the MRT, we are currently safeguarding it. Next, he lay the foundation of the high-speed railway. The plan is for Jakarta-Surabaya,” Budi Karya said recently. The Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati noted that the Jakarta-Surabaya HSR “had been seriously discussed” by a number of ministries and state institutions led by the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry.
The discussion of the extension of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya happens at a time when the Jakarta-Bandung HSR is facing various challenges, including a massive cost overrun of US$1.4 billion, that have delayed the projects several times. The Indonesian investors have not yet come to an agreement with Chinese investors over the size of the cost overrun and how to finance it. (See what’s more)
The southern extension of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya would likely be given to the same Chinese investors that are currently involved in the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. Our sources from the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry and the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry said last year the Chinese consortium would conduct a feasibility study to extend the Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya.
President Jokowi’s right-hand man Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan revealed last year when he met visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that Jokowi had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to support Indonesia’s proposal to extend the Jakarta-Bandung railway project to Surabaya.
When recently asked again about the involvement of Chinese investors in the Jakarta-Surabaya HSR, Luhut simply said, “Well, we'll see. If we're comfortable with these [investors in the Jakarta-Bandung HSR], why change? We don't want to change wives either.”
