Batavia Monorail

Jakarta doesn't need subway nor monorail

2008-08-08T05:43:00.000+07:00

City needs more busways, says the mayor who started it all
Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The Colombian mayor who revolutionized Bogota's public transportation system has said that Jakarta's administration should focus on expanding the bus rapid transit (BRT) network instead of developing a subway or monorail.

Former Bogota mayor Enrique Peñalosa, who championed the BRT in his city, told a transportation seminar here that it would be cheaper for Jakarta to expand its busway system.

"A subway would cost three times its contract value, yet it would only cover several lines, (but) with the same amount of money you could reach all parts of the city with the (busway) network," he said during a seminar on BRT best practices.

The administration has signed a soft loan contract for the subway with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation worth $800 million, which Peñalosa said could end up costing it $2.4 billion in repayments, while a BRT covering the entire city would cost only $5 million.

"Imagine how many schools and health facilities we could create if we transfer the subway capital into schools and health facilities," said Peñalosa, who is regarded as a public transportation expert after his success in managing the BRT and bicycle ways in Bogota.

The Jakarta administration has been attempting for some years to realize an integrated mass rapid transit (MRT) system that would include the busway, subway and monorail networks.
While the subway and monorail are still waiting for domestic and international financial support, the administration has established seven busway lanes, most of which run in Central and South Jakarta.

While four new busway lanes have opened since the start of this year, people have complained that the buses are too crowded and that there are long waits at stations.
The administration is yet to complete the targeted number of buses for the corridors, which are meant to be able to carry around 300,000 people every day.
That number is already too high as city-owned operator PT TransJakarta only has 159 buses, half the number it needs to transport the daily number of passengers.

This is also why the Jakarta Transportation Board, the special body overseeing the city's transportation policy, recently refused the administration's request to raise busway fares.

"We asked Transjakarta (the BRT operator) to give us a prudent result of the company's financial and service audit, but they did not give us a satisfying result," said board head Soetanto Soehodho.

He said that numbers in the reports kept changing and sometimes did not match the results of the board's field investigation, proving that TransJakarta still lacked good management.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, however, still takes great pride in the busway service.

A keynote speaker at the same seminar as Peñalosa, Sutiyoso talked for 15 minutes on his struggles to implement the BRT as well as his ongoing efforts to create an MRT.
Arriving late and delivering his speech in the middle of Peñalosa's session, he emphasized his commitment to realizing good public transportation in the city.

"I would like to slap (the faces of his subordinates and financiers) if they don't realize the system for Jakartans," he said, although a few months ago he ordered his staffers to create more fast lanes on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. M.H. Thamrin in order to avoid traffic jams for private car owners.

Aside from the soft loan from the Japanese bank for the subway, a consortium of Middle Eastern banks and local banks have expressed their commitment to covering the monorail project, although the loans are still going through the administration process.

Angin mulai bertiup lagi

2008-04-15T12:06:00.001+07:00

Pemerintah Provinsi (Pemprov) DKI Jakarta memastikan tidak akan meninggalkan proyek monorel yang saat ini masih terbengkalai. Namun, Pemprov DKI juga tidak mau secara serampangan menanggung resiko dari proyek tersebut.

Sekretaris Daerah Provinsi DKI Jakarta, Muhayat, menegaskan, opsi yang sedang diusahakan Pemprov DKI untuk melanjutkan monorel adalah mencari format kerja sama dengan pemerintah pusat. Seperti implementasi dalam proyek Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) dengan memanfaatkan pinjaman lunak (softloan).

Muhayat juga menepis kemungkinan Pemprov DKI akan mengambil alih dan menjalankan proyek Monorel sendirian. "Masalah transportasi di Ibukota negara perlu ada keterlibatan pemerintah pusat, pembagian hak dan kewajiban," tutur Muhayat di Balai Kota Jakarta, Senin (14/4).

Meskipun pintu bagi keterlibatan swasta asing belum sepenuhnya ditutup, Pemprov DKI tetap mempertimbangkan resiko yang ditanggung jika proyek itu nantinya diserahkan ke investor. Meski saat ini juga sudah keluar UU Sukuk (perbankan syariah) yang memungkinkan kembali masuknya investor dari Timur Tengah, Pemprov DKI sepertinya tetap melihat penggunaan loan dengan kerja sama pusat lebih ringan dan mengeliminir resiko dibanding dengan swasta.

"Tentunya Gubernur tidak ingin meninggalkan persoalan ke depan. Mereka (swasta) kan bisnis, kalau dia rugi kita yang bayar. Mereka maunya untung terus," ungkap Muhayat.

Karena itu, sambil menunggu pembicaraan pola kerja sama dengan pusat, Pemprov DKI meminta PT Jakarta Monorail bisa merawat tiang-tiang dan infrastruktur yang dibangun agar tidak rusak.

Sementara itu Gubernur DKI Fauzi Bowo mengungkapkan untuk mendorong atau menarik investor bukanlah wewenang DKI. "Sepanjang memungkinkan dan bisa lebih cepat dari rencana saya, ya silakan," ujar Fauzi Bowo. Namun yang terpenting, sebut Fauzi Bowo, pembangunan monorel tidak hanya menjadi monumen yang tidak bertuan.

Direktur Utama PT Jakarta Monorail, Sukmawati Syukur mengungkapkan, sejak adanya UU Sukuk, dua investor dari Dubai dan Abu Dhabi memang sempat menanyatakan kembali penawarannya untuk melanjutkan proyek monorel.
"Namun sejak dua bulan lalu, kita terlanjur menyerahkannya ke Pemprov DKI, jadi sekarang tergantung DKI," ujar Sukmawati Syukur saat dihubungi di Jakarta. [beritaJakarta]

Pemerintah akan ambilalih

2008-03-31T16:30:00.001+07:00

Sekretaris Daerah Provinsi DKI Jakarta Muhayat, mengemukanan Monorel dibiayai dengan skema investasi swasta murni, yaitu melalui konsorsium Jakarta Monorel (JM), "Tapi kenyataannya dalam kurun waktu yang ditetapkan, dia tidak berhasil mendapatkan investasi," kata mantan Wali Kota Jakpus itu.

Karena monorel merupakan bagian dari pola transportasi makro, Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta berkewajiban memikirkan kelanjutannya. "Kalau kondisi seperti ini terus, suatu saat kita akan ambil alih," ujarnya.

"Pengambilalihan tentu harus dengan proses. Nah langkah-langkahnya, salah satunya adalah pembahasan due diligent, atau penghitungan kembali (pembiayaan yang telah dikeluarkan JM)," Bila jadi dilaksanakan, DKI akan meminta dukungan pemerintah pusat. "Karena Jakarta ini kan ibu kota negara, jadi partisipasi APBN harus ada. Kita minta pusat sharing dalam pendanaannya, di samping tentu juga kita cari investor lain yang mampu tanamkan modal."

Secara terpisah, Direktur JM Sukmawati Syukur membantah pihaknya gagal menghadirkan investor untuk mendanai monorel. "Itu tidak benar. Yang benar, persyaratan yang diminta investor kami maupun persyaratan perbankan, belum dapat dipenuhi DKI," jelasnya.

"Karena deadlock, sesuai perjanjian kerja sama, kami menyerahkan keputusan soal pendanaan ini kepada Gubernur," ungkap Sukmawati. Ia mengaku belum mendapat informasi terkait rencana DKI mengambil alih pembangunan monorel. "Kami masih menunggu keputusan resmi Pemprov DKI, siapa tahu ada solusi lain," katanya.

Proyek monorel mulai dibangun sejak 2004. Tiang-tiang pancang sudah berdiri kokoh di sepanjang jalur antara Kuningan hingga Senayan. JM menggandeng Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB namun mundur lantaran ketiadaan UU Sukuk. [dari Media Indonesia]

Monorail fate

2008-03-15T06:39:00.000+07:00

Each and every rainstorm, no matter how brief, brings dread.
What time will we get home?

When it rains many people become stuck in traffic while others opt to dally in the office until late. This has become the reality of life in Jakarta, a result of inadequate infrastructure and terrible traffic.

The failure of PT Jakarta Monorail (PT JM) to find investors for the monorail project is a further blow to efforts to improve public transportation in the capital. Many commuters are relatively pleased with the busway, but many more are still waiting for the promise of improved services.

For motorists, the delayed monorail project, its proposed route marked by massive concrete pillars standing uselessly in the middle of roads, only means yet another source of congestion.

The concrete structures have become mere reminders of the hope we had for another option with which to navigate Jakarta. It was four years ago when then president Megawati Soekarnoputri officiated the project's groundbreaking ceremony.

Now the fate of the US$450 million, 27.8-kilometer project is in the hands of Governor Fauzi Bowo and the city councilors. Recently, PT JM announced the failure, after years of effort, to convince investors to put their money into the project, and handed it back over to the city administration early this week.

According to PT JM director Sukmawaty Syukur, the failure came about because a consortium of three state banks -- BRI, BNI 46 and Bank Mandiri -- required the administration's financial participation as a pre-condition for their involvement in the project.

A very cautious Fauzi said his administration is not in a hurry to decide on taking part in the project. He even hinted that he would prioritize the continued development of the busway.

His caution is understandable because any commitment he makes affects large amounts of taxpayer money -- not only for an early investment in the project, but also for guaranteeing the return of investors' money and covering operational costs if the project misses its revenue targets.

Since the beginning, financing has been the project's main problem, because several studies found it would not be feasible if the monorail only relied on ticket sales. A ticket price of Rp 7,500 (about 79 US cents) per trip is still considered too expensive for the average urban traveler.

PT JM, particularly its major shareholder, PT ITC, had tried to find both local and international investors. But it failed to convince them their money would be safe. The central government's decree in support of the project also did not convince foreign banks that initially expressed interest in funding the project.

In trying to keep the monorail alive, PT ITC changed partners several times. In 2003, ITC ended an agreement with Malaysia's MTrans Holding, an operator of the Kuala Lumpur monorail, due to differences over financial issues.

ITC later signed a cooperation agreement with a consortium from Singapore, Omnico Singapore Pte Ltd. They set up PT Jakarta Monorail but their partnership did not last long due to a dispute over rolling stock for the cars.

Following the split, ITC owned 98 percent of PT Jakarta Monorail's shares, and entrusted the supply of rolling stock to the Indonesia Consortium of Monorail Industries (ICMI), led by PT Bukaka Trans System.

Now Fauzi's say will decide the fate of the monorail. He can stop the project; renew its cooperation agreement with PT JM or open a tender to find new partners in developing the monorail. If completed it would serve the city's business districts, with a 14.3-km line, and another 13.5-km line from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Taman Anggrek Mall in West Jakarta.

Considering the hours we waste in traffic, millions of residents and commuters will suffer if Fauzi stops the project.

He needs to find a business partner more capable, both technically and financially, to develop the elevated transportation system in the capital.

In the meantime, the city is scheduled to complete five more busway corridors and improve services on the existing corridors.

Until then, every rainy night brings to many the prospect of a commute home that takes longer than a typical trip to nearby Bandung in West Java. [Jakarta Post]

THE 2004 PROJECT

2007-09-23T22:02:00.000+07:00

EAST-WEST PROJECT:

PHASE I : JAKARTA CORRIDOR
The area around and including, Jakarta is known as Jabotabek, the name deriving from the first letter of constituent cities of Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi. The initial plan is to have a modern, elevated light rail system known as Automated People Mover (APM) connection from east to west of Jabotabek area, starting from the east; i.e. Cikarang (District of Bekasi) to Bekasi City, to Jakarta and then to the west to Tangerang. The total length from east to west is estimated 70 kilometer.

The project is planned for 3 (Three) Phases i.e.:
Phase I : Jakarta Corridor (27Km): Stage I : Green Line (14Km); Stage II : Blue Line (13Km)
Phase II : Jakarta to Bekasi and Cikarang (18-30 Km)
Phase III : Jakarta to Tangerang ang Karawaci (16-25 Km)

Jakarta is treated as a separate administrative area, with a special status of a provenience (or level I local authority) as the capital or Ibukota. Since the main concentration of people movement centered in Jakarta, it is important to establish the system in Jakarta first in Phase I before building the network connection to East an West of Jakarta. The total trip within Jakarta Area in year 2001 was estimated at 9 million trip per day where the trip from east – west of Jakarta was estimated at 2 million trip per day (CTS), (2003). The proposal of Jakarta corridor which consist of 2 lines of services is intended to solve some of the transportation problems in the corridor.

Bogor and Bekasi is in the province of West Java and Tangerang is recently becoming part of Banten province. Both tangerang and Bekasi are divided into two level II authorities, Kotamadya Tangerang (City of Tangerang) and Kabupaten Tangerang (District of Tangerang) and City of Bekasi and District of Bekasi.

Population projection for Jakarta, Botabek shows that Jakarta will have a population of approximately 12 million by 2016, an increase of 2 million over the current 2002 population. The population of Jabotabek will be approximately 30 million which incorporates and almost doubling the Botabek population from 10 to 20 million. Currently, Tangerang has 4,2 million population and Bekasi has 3,5 million population (Bekasi City 1,6 million and Bekasi District 1,9 million). [by Indonesia Transit Central]

Company Info
This report is an executive summary of the Feasibility Study prepared by The INDONESIA TRANSIT CENTRAL, and Mott MacDonald Consultant. The report proposed an alternative solution for increasing services for public transportation in Jakarta Area and its surrounding cities i.e. Tangerang and Bekasi. Although this not intended to solve all of Jakarta’s public transportation problems, it is expected to answer some of the most pressing problems in the proposed corridors.

Board of Director
PT. ITC Board Of Directors are:

President Director : Ruslan Diwirjo, Former Indonesian Secretary General of Ministry of Public Works, Chairman of PT. Jasa Marga (Persero) the State Owned Toll Road Company.
Director : Sukmawaty Syukur, also Director of PT. Global Profeks Sinergy
Director : Mubarak Nahdi
Chairman : M. Saiful Imam, also CEO of PT. Adhi Karya (persero)
Commissioner : Ahmad Ganis, also CEO PT. Radiant Utama

Company activities:

Intermediation, consultancy and engineering services on the investment area,
including transportation and infrastructure.
License provision for transportation and infrastructure.
Collaborate with other companies on the same areas and concession right provisioning service as well.

Investor Relations

For the Project’s development and operation, a Project Company has been established i.e. PT. INDONESIA TRANSIT CENTRAL (ITC) which its shareholders consist of prominent Indonesia companies i.e.
PT. Global Profex Synergy - a member of Global Synergy Group, an Engineering Company (Former name; BIEC International)
PT. Adhi Karya (persero) - An Indonesia Top-1 State Owned Construction Company.
PT. Radiant Utama – Oil Based Company.

Contact: If you have enquiries or feedbacks, please contact:

Gedung Victoria 3rd Floor, Suite 304,
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin Kav. 47-51,
Kebayoran Baru,
Jakarta Selatan 12160,
Indonesia.
Website: www.i-transitcentral.co.id
Email: info@i-transitcentral.co.id

The company is bankrupt

2007-09-20T00:15:00.000+07:00

Lawyer sues monorail developer for back pay

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta — Jakartans may now have to wait even longer before they can enjoy riding the elevated monorail.
Adi Prasetyo & Partners, former legal advisor for the project developer consortium PT Jakarta Monorail, has requested the Commerce Court of Jakarta declare the company bankrupt.
The firm, represented by lawyer Octolin H. Hutagalung, said after an initial hearing at the Jakarta district court Wednesday, that Jakarta Monorail owed approximately Rp 2.247 billion (US$239,510) and US$872,750 separately.

"Jakarta Monorail has only paid our client Rp 40 million to date... (and has) claimed our client was not qualified for the work" he said.
"That excuse doesn't make sense. Why would the consortium continue employing our client if it considered them to be unprofessional?"

Octolin said the Jakarta Monorail first hired law firm Adi Prasetyo & Partners in April 2005 for legal advice on the development of the monorail project. The company paid the firm Rp 40 million of the initial Rp 120 million contract fee.
The developer went on to sign two additional contracts in September 2005 and March 2006, valued at Rp 1.1 billion and $150,000, respectively, but has paid neither.

The monorail project, which began in 2004, has been stopped and started due to a shortfall in the finance needed for the estimated US$650 million design.
Which investors will now actually be paying for the project remains confidential. In July, a local bank consortium comprising Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Mandiri and Bank DKI agreed to finance the plans.

Governor Sutiyoso told the consortium in June that the city administration would replace the company if it could not find money for the project by October.
JM director Sukmawati Syukur told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, that the company did not want to pay the law firm.

"Firstly, our agreement states that the consortium will pay the firm only once we have reached financial closing,
Secondly, we have recently been lead to believe that our former lawyer, Gusnelia Tartiningsih, from Adi Prasetyo & Partners, does not have a license to practice".

Sukmawati said that Gusnelia would be paid the agreed amount when JM had reached financial closing
"We suffered losses because of (Gusnelia's) faulty legal advice. She should deduct our debts (from her fee)," she said.

Despite the dispute between the company and the law firm, consortium member PT Adhi Karya will continue to increase its stake in the monorail project from 7.65 percent to 21.83 percent.
"Jakarta Monorail will issue new shares. Adhi Karya will purchase 250,000 shares worth $100 each," Adhi Karya's corporate secretary Kurnardi Gularso said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He added that his company would pay $25 million for the new shares once the monorail has obtained a guarantee from a financial institution.
"We will pay the money in two phases: $15 million and $10 million each," he said. (08)

Busway versus monorail

2007-08-17T06:50:00.000+07:00

from The Jakarta Post:

Several transportation experts, including Rahmah, have predicted a monorail system in Jakarta would not be as effective as the busway. He also questioned whether a monorail would reduce traffic congestion.
Private car users perhaps will not be motivated to use the monorail if the distance of travel is too short (only 14.8 kilometers in the central business district of Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan; and 12.2 kilometers between Kampung Melayu and Taman Anggrek).
This makes sense, because many Jakarta travelers are commuters who have to travel long distances from suburban areas (Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok) to central Jakarta (CBD areas).

On the other hand, data has showed the effectiveness of the busway in Jakarta. According to a Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) survey, 14 percent of busway passengers were previously private car users or passengers. This number is higher than in the city where the busway concept originated, Bogota, Colombia, where only 4.7 percent of busway users were previously private car users (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 5, 2005).

The maintenance costs for the monorail would also be high. If the monorail is introduced in Jakarta, it would cost about $20 million a year to maintain. Meanwhile, the investment and maintenance costs for the busway are much lower.
The completion of the busway project through 2007, consisting of another 14 busway corridors, will only absorb an estimated cost of about $263 million (Pelangi Indonesia, Dec. 4, 2005), which is less than half the calculated cost for the first stage of the monorail project.
Clearly, the busway is more efficient than the monorail for both the short and long terms. In addition, PT Jakarta Monorail has had difficulty finding investors for the monorail.

In terms of capacity, obviously the monorail has an advantage over the busway. Based on Japan's experience, a monorail can be operated as an "intermediate-capacity" transit system. This fits Bouladon's concept of the "transportation gap", which refers to situations where traffic levels are too high for efficient bus operations, but too low to justify full-scale conventional rail lines.

The monorail might be a better alternative for areas of Jakarta where high travel demand cannot be fulfilled by a busway route. The monorail, which has a larger capacity than the busway, should be operated on different routes from the busway, with higher travel demand. For instance, the projected first stage of the monorail would connect several central business districts (Kuningan-Sudirman-Senayan; Kampung Melayu-Taman Anggrek).

If diesel fuel continues to be used for buses, then pollution will remain a problem for the busway. The monorail is pollution-free due to the use of electric power as a source of energy. Therefore, the monorail is more environmentally friendly than the busway, unless the buses in the future run on hydrogen or solar cell systems, which at present is being experimented on by Japan.

...

A comparison between the monorail and busway in Jakarta suggests the busway is more suitable than the monorail. The advantages of the busway are that it is less expensive to develop and fares are low. However, the busway has a lower capacity than the monorail and makes traffic jams worse beyond the busway line.
The monorail does not have these limitations, because the monorail has a higher capacity and has its own line above the road, separated from the traffic. The development of a monorail system would be more appropriate in the future, when the government and citizens are better able to pay the high costs.

Perhaps the monorail and busway projects should be planned and implemented as an integrated system. For example, both should serve different routes that have different characteristics of travel demand. Both systems are being introduced as part of Governor Sutiyoso's comprehensive and integrated master plan, which is the basis for the development of an integrated transportation system in Jakarta through 2010. The goal of the plan is to control the operation of private vehicles and motorcycles in the city.

Wah, Makin Ruwet...

2007-08-06T12:49:00.000+07:00

Pascal S Bin Saju

Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta kini diharuskan bergabung dalam konsorsium pembangunan monorel. Melalui Badan Usaha Milik Daerah, Jakarta Propertindo, pemprov menyiapkan Rp 144 miliar sebagai penyertaan modal. Keikutsertaan itu penting untuk meyakinkan perbankan guna mengucurkan kredit.

Memang saat ini ada upaya untuk membentuk sindikasi atau konsorsium pembangunan monorel setelah PT Jakarta Monorel (JM) tidak memiliki financial closing. Pembiayaan dari perbankan nasional, swasta, dan pemerintah sangat diperlukan karena harapan dana dari Dubai Islamic Bank sudah tidak ada.

Saat ini Pemprov DKI Jakarta sebenarnya sedang ngos- ngosan akibat menanggung beban subsidi busway, yakni Rp 203 miliar untuk tujuh koridor pada tahun 2007. Dana untuk busway itu pun menurut Badan Layanan Umum (BLU) Transjakarta masih kurang. Kini Pemprov harus bersiap-siap lagi menyubsidi monorel, yakni Rp 200 miliar per tahun.

Maklum, pada saat penandatangan kerja sama BOT (build, operate, and transfer) 30 tahun dengan Pemprov, 14 Mei 2004, JM meminta sejumlah syarat penting. Salah satu syarat yang memberatkan ialah subsidi operasional selama tujuh tahun, yakni 20 juta dollar AS atau setara Rp 200 miliar per tahun.

Ada empat syarat yang diminta JM. Tiga lainnya, yakni pemanfaatan lahan-lahan milik Pemprov (termasuk Senayan), komitmen membantu keuangan jika JM bermasalah, dan pelaksanaan electronic road pricing (ERP) di mana uang hasil pungutan dari ERP agar dialihkan untuk menyubsidi monorel juga.

Harus diingat juga bahwa pada akhir Agustus atau awal September 2007 akan ada lagi pembangunan tiga koridor baru bus transjakarta, yakni Koridor VIII, IX, dan X. Artinya, Pemprov melalui uang rakyat pada APBD harus menambah subsidi lagi. Jika tidak menyubsidi, hampir pasti tarif bus transjakarta akan naik lebih dari Rp 6.000.

Lantas, kalau harus menanggung subsidi Rp 200 miliar lagi per tahun selama tujuh tahun untuk monorel, bagaimana nasib busway? Ketika terjadi penurunan subsidi terhadap tujuh koridor bus transjakarta menjadi hanya Rp 203 miliar, pelayanannya menjadi semakin buruk. Publik DKI tentu bisa melukiskan hal itu dari pengalaman empiriknya.

Persoalannya tidak hanya pada bus transjakarta. Bagaimana dengan nasib angkutan umum, seperti kopaja, metromini, PPD, mikrolet, dan angkutan kota. Bagaimana pula subsidi pendidikan dan kesehatan bagi rakyat miskin kota? Bagaimana pula mengatasi kemiskinan kota, menata permukiman kumuh, dan infrastruktur pengendali banjir?

Angkutan rel

Langkah Pemprov DKI Jakarta untuk membangun monorel sebenarnya merupakan perkembangan dari komitmen membenahi keruwetan lalu lintas di Ibu Kota. Monorel diharapkan bisa menjadi sarana alternatif untuk beralih dari kendaraan bermotor sehingga polusi udara dapat dikurangi.

Monorel sebagai bagian dari angkutan massal diharapkan dapat mendukung dan menjadi bagian penting dari pola transportasi makro (PTM) yang sedang dikembangkan di Jakarta. Monorel juga diharapkan bisa menjadi satu kesatuan sistem transportasi publik yang terpadu dengan sistem lainnya, yakni busway, subway, dan waterway.

Dewan Transportasi Kota (DTK) Jakarta sejak Januari 2005 sangat mendukung pembangunan atau pengembangan angkutan massal berbasis rel. Bahwa keruwetan arus lalu lintas kota akibat penggunaan kendaraan pribadi antara lain dapat diatasi dengan moda angkutan rel, itu tidak dalam bentuk memprioritaskan monorel, melainkan subway.

Komentar senada diungkapkan Ketua Masyarakat Transportasi Indonesia (MTI) Bambang Susantono. Dia menilai, angkutan dengan rel tunggal atau monorel sangat "tanggung", dan lebih baik menggunakan MRT, termasuk subway.

Ada banyak contoh kasus tentang sistem angkutan massal itu. Bangkok Skytrain sepanjang 23 kilometer diperkirakan akan membawa 550.000 penumpang per hari pada saat dibuka tahun 1999 dan 650.000 penumpang per hari selama setahun beroperasi. "Kenyataannya, saat pembukaan Bangkok Skyatrain hanya ditumpangi 200.000 orang per hari dan selama empat tahun beroperasi jumlah penumpang yang terangkut rata-rata sekitar 350.000 orang per hari," kata F Trisbiantara.

Star Light Metro (Desember 1996) dan Putra LRT (Desember 1998) di Kuala Lumpur juga telah gagal secara finansial. Ketika dinasionalisasikan pada akhir 2001, Putra membawa utang 1,4 miliar dollar AS dan utang Star 315 juta dollar AS. Itu merupakan kebangkrutan terbesar Malaysia dalam sejarah korporasinya.

Masih wacana

Bagaimana dengan monorel di Jakarta, yang merupakan private inisiative dari JM dan kini sedang dibangun itu? Apakah kita harus mendorong untuk diteruskan pembangunan monorel oleh JM, atau malah mendesak Pemprov agar menghentikan proyek itu dan mengalihkan ke investor lain, atau malah diputus sementara saja?

Gubernur Sutiyoso berkeinginan kuat agar pembangunan monorel dilanjutkan. DTK Jakarta juga mendukung monorel, tetapi tidak setuju dengan konsep bisnis dari JM yang meminta berbagai persyaratan. Padahal, masih ada begitu banyak persoalan kota yang perlu perhatian serius dari pemerintah.

Tekad Pemprov ikut serta dalam konsorsium untuk menarik minat perbankan ikut mendanai juga tidak mudah. Pihak bank sangat hati-hati dan mereka sejatinya baru mau mendanai setelah melakukan pengujian tuntas (due diligence) dan penelaah lengkap tentang finansial proyek, tarif proyek, proyeksi penumpang, dan masalah hukum monorel. Jika bank ingin melakukan pengujian tuntas, itu artinya, pembangunan monorel oleh JM harus diputus sementara dulu. Kalau pembangunan monorel oleh JM dihentikan dan dialihkan ke investor lain, hampir pasti JM akan menuntut kompensasi ganti untung dari Pemprov DKI Jakarta. Wah, jadi ruwet!

Bank Pembangunan Islam Jajaki Pembiayaan

2007-08-03T23:02:00.000+07:00

Bank Pembangunan Islam Jajaki Pembiayaan Proyek di DKI

Jakarta-Republika -- Bank Pembangunan Islam (IDB) tengah menjajaki kemungkinan pembiayaan sejumlah proyek pembangunan infrastruktur di Provinsi DKI Jakarta dengan pagu pinjaman sebesar 100 juta dolar AS.

Perwakilan dari kantor pusat IDB Yousof Khan, usai bertemu dengan Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso di Balaikota Jakarta, Jumat (3/8), memaparkan pihaknya tertarik untuk mempelajari skema pembiayaan keuangan beberapa proyek seperti monorail, pengembangan kapasitas instalasi pengolahan air limbah, dan juga instalasi pengolahan sampah.

Kita akan sediakan skema keuangan karena ini proyek yang besar dan membutuhkan investasi yang besar, jumlah maksimal sebesar 100 juta dolas AS," katanya.

Sebelumnya, Gubernur DKI Jakarta mengaku pesimis IDB dapat menggelontorkan dana pinjamannya untuk membiayai proyek-proyek infrastruktur di Jakarta mengingat berbasiskan sistem keuangan syariah maka ada sejumlah aturan terkait itu yang belum ada di Indonesia.

"Dana dari IDB itu kan cukup banyak namun saya pesimis karena belajar dari pengalaman, Dubai saja tidak tembus karena di kita belum ada undang-undang yang mengatur tentang sukuk," paparnya.

Terkait dengan hal tersebut, Yousof mengatakan skema keuangan yang disediakan oleh IDB lebih independen dan tidak tergantung apakah di negara tertentu sudah memiliki UU tentang syariah atau belum.

"Kami tidak mempermasalahkan apakah kami membuat skema keuangan dulu atau UU Syariah selesai dulu," tambahnya.

Sementara itu Kepala Badan Regulator PAM Akhmad Lanti yang juga hadir dalam pertemuan itu mengatakan tawaran bantuan pinjaman dari IDB itu kecil kemungkinan untuk pembiayaan proyek terowongan bawah tanah multi fungsi di Jakarta karena pagu pinjaman yang terbatas sampai 100 juta dolar AS.

"Mereka kemungkinan lebih tertarik untuk mendanai proyek-proyek menengah seperti instalasi pengolahan air limbah, instalasi pengolahan sampah dan ikut serta dalam pembiayaan monorail," kata Lanti.

Sedangkan untuk pembiayaan terowongan bawah tanah multi fungsi yang ditaksir memerlukan 1,8 miliar dolar AS kemungkinan besar tidak bisa dibiayai dari IDB karena jumlah pinjamannya terbatas.

"Tahun 2008 nanti, sebetulnya mereka mempunyai program infrastruktur fund yang jumlahnya hingga miliaran dolar AS, namun itu untuk Indonesia secara keseluruhan dan tidak hanya untuk Jakarta. Bisa untuk PLN atau jalan tol dan sebagainya," ujar Lanti.

Kedatangan perwakilan kantor pusat IDB ke Jakarta tersebut, menurut Sutiyoso, merupakan tindak lanjut dari kunjungannya ke Riyadh Arab Saudi beberapa waktu yang lalu.

"Saat di Riyadh saya bertemu dengan Presiden Komisaris IDB Muhammad Ali dan sekarang yang datang adalah utusannya, saya hanya menjelaskan program yang kita miliki," tambah Gubernur DKI.

Setelah mendapatkan pemaparan program tersebut, perwakilan IDB akan melaporkan hasil pertemuan dan kemudian melakukan kajian, sambil menunggu proposal ajuan pinjaman pendanaan dari Pemprov DKI Jakarta.

"Hal yang dibicarakan itu baru ide, kami harus melihat dokumentasi dan kesiapannya dan kami akan lakukan pembicaraan lanjutan pola kerjasama untuk proyek-proyek ini. Hingga saat ini belum ada persetujuan tertentu," papar Yousof. | antara | is

The project starts to rolling again

2007-07-27T00:23:00.000+07:00

Local bank set to finance monorail project

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta — Jakarta's monorail project may finally get rolling again soon, with a local bank consortium finalizing its commitment to finance up to 70 percent of the US$480 million needed for the project.
The remaining 30 percent will come from a consortium of private, state and city-owned firms, Jakarta secretary Ritola Tasmaya said after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Thursday.

"The consortium will agree on a financing deal after a final financial assessment of the project has been made," Ritola said, adding that the consortium would be led by state-owned lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI).
Besides BRI, Thursday's meeting was also attended by representatives from state lender Bank Mandiri, city-owned Bank DKI, the State Ministry for State Enterprises, and project developer Jakarta Monorail (JM).

The final financial assessment will include the mass rapid transportation project's total financing needs, Ritola further said, as well as detailed estimates of its passenger figures and tariff schemes.
"The Vice President has asked that the assessment be concluded within two weeks time," Ritola said.

The monorail project has been stalled by financing problems, despite the government having written a letter of guarantee for the project on the request of JM and potential financiers. The guarantee letter from the Finance Ministry will provide loss coverage for JM if the project fails to meet the minimum 160,000 passengers required, but in return requires the project to be completed by 2010.

Initial financiers for the project included a Middle East consortium led by the Dubai Islamic Bank, which had earlier agreed to secure a $500 million loan, but left after finding out the Islamic financing scheme it offered did not match Indonesian regulations.

The project, which will comprise two separate monorail lines, is part of the city's planned integrated transportation system, which is aimed at overcoming its perennial traffic chaos.
The monorail's green line will run through South Jakarta's Kuningan business district, along Jl. Sudirman to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. The blue line will link Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta with Roxy in West Jakarta.

Ultimatum for the company

2007-07-25T00:27:00.000+07:00

M'sians may run Jakarta monorail project: Gov

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Several Malaysian companies may be interested in investing in Jakarta's mass rapid transportation (MRT) monorail, the construction of which has just resumed after a lack of money forced a several month delay, Governor Sutiyoso said.
"I believe Malaysian private companies will come here to invest and help us expedite the construction of the Jakarta monorail," Governor Sutiyoso said after a plenary session at the City Council on Tuesday.

The governor has sent several ultimatums to monorail developer PT Jakarta Monorail (JM) to speed up the project. The latest one was in late June requiring the company to find money by October or be replaced by another developer.
His administration has, however, never penalized JM but has instead continued extending its concessions.

JM director Sukmawaty Syukur said the company was awaiting a financing scheme agreement with a consortium of several local banks, which is expected to be completed this month.
"JM is still finalizing negotiations with the consortium. Both parties will ink the agreement very soon," Sukmawaty said.

The monorail would up and running in 2010, she said.
Sukmawaty however declined to comment on Malaysian companies potentially taking over financing of the project and filling JM's post.

Winny E. Hassan, the president director of city-owned Bank DKI declined to disclose where negotiations were at, saying the consortium had yet to formally meet with JM.
Local banks, including state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Mandiri, as well as Bank DKI, have shown interest in funding the long-delayed project after the government issued a letter of guarantee in April.

The city's assistant secretary for development, Nurfakih Wirawan, said the consortium would fund two-thirds of the US$500 million project, while JM would fund the rest.
A Middle Eastern consortium, including the Dubai Islamic Bank, had earlier been expected to partly finance the project.

The consortium had agreed to secure a $500 million loan but left after finding out the Islamic financing scheme it offered was not possible under Indonesian regulations.
Despite JM's optimism, Winny said the bank and others in the local consortium had been put in quandary because they lacked experience in handling such a project.

"We're hardly able to set a formula that can secure the project and at the same time benefit us with a sufficient amount of money," she said."We're still working on risk management issues in the time being."

She said the banks could not rely on the government's guarantee it would cover their losses if passengers failed to reach 160,000 per day since the government and the banks had yet to discuss the details of the subsidy plan.
Winny said that although discussions on the project were already halfway complete she was not sure when the both parties would finalized the deal.

The project, which will comprise two separate monorail lines, is part of the city's planned integrated transportation system, which is aimed at overcoming perennial traffic chaos.
The monorail's green line will run through South Jakarta's Kuningan business district, along Jl. Sudirman to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. The blue line will link Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta with Roxy in West Jakarta.

The on-and-off construction of the monorail has left a series of pillars along some main thoroughfares in South Jakarta.

Mulai di Pejompongan Raya

2007-07-10T15:54:00.000+07:00

Bang Yos Marah, Megaproyek Jalan Lagi

Indopos - Pembangunan angkutan massal monorel kembali digeber. Setelah vakum beberapa lama, angkutan rel di atas kota Jakarta itu kembali dikerjakan di kawasan Pejompongan, Jakarta Selatan. Lima tiang pancang kembali akan didirikan untuk jalur rel itu. Sumber di Dinas Perhubungan DKI menyebut, pembangunan yang tiba-tiba itu terkait akan berakhirnya masa tugas Gubernur DKI Sutiyoso Agustus mendatang.

"Kemarin kabarnya Pak Sutiyoso marah-marah ke Jakarta Monorel. Kok pembangunan nggak jalan-jalan. Padahal, beliau sudah mau selesai masa tugasnya," kata petugas dishub yang menolak disebut namanya.

Meski pembangunan sudah mulai, pemberitahuan dari PT Jakarta Monorel kepada Dishub pun belum ada secara resmi. Hanya melalui lesan. "Belum ada surat minta bantuan pengalihan jalur atau bagaimana," kata dia.

Saat ini proses pengerjaan sudah mulai berlangsung di Jalan Pejompongan Raya, persisnya di bawah flyover Slipi. Sekitar 200 meter dari perlintasan kereta api arah Jalan Penjernihan sudah tertutup separator yang dihiasi gambar armada monorel. Sementara di bagian paling ujung sebelah utara, tampak alat berat.

Dari pagi hingga sore, para petugas terlihat sibuk menggali ruas jalan untuk dibangun pondasi tiang pancang monorel. Empat titik lubang galian sudah tampak dikerjakan serius. Rencananya, sepanjang 100 meter akan didirikan lima tiang pancang menyusul pembangunan tiang pancang di kawasan Palmerah arah Senayan.

Tak seperti biasanya, arus kepadatan lalu lintas di daerah tersebut praktis mulai bertambah dibanding hari biasanya. Itu lantaran selain terdapat pengerjaan jalur monorel, tidak jauh dari tempat itu juga terdapat perlintasan kereta api jalur double track jurusan Tanah Abang-Serpong. Untuk menghindari kemacetan lebih parah, Dinas Perhubungan (Dishub) DKI telah memasang spanduk berisi imbauan untuk menghindari daerah tersebut.

Menurut Wakil Kepala Dishub DKI Udar Pristono, selama proses pengerjaan jalur monorel di Pejompongan, para pengendara disarankan untuk mengambil jalur alternatif. Hal itu untuk menghindari penumpukan jumlah kendaraan yang ditengarai bakal antre melintas. Sebab, selama proyek berlangsung, kendaraan yang melintas hanya bisa berjalan merayap.

Dijelaskan Pristono, ruas jalan di Jalan Pejompongan Raya mulai persimpangan Pejompongan atau BPK akan terjadi penyempitan ruas jalan. Semula enam lajur menjadi empat lajur. Akibatnya, arus lalu lintas hanya dua arah.

Penambahan petugas dishub akan ditambah terhitung mulai hari ini. Untuk menghindari kemacetan, para pengguna jalan disarankan agar melalui Jalan KS Tubun, Jalan KH Mas Mansur, Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto, Jalan Bendungan Hilir Raya atau jalan alternatif lainnya. Pada malam hari, kendaraan yang akan meluncur ke arah Penjernihan hanya bisa melalui satu jalur. Sedangkan untuk kendaraan yang mengarah ke Gatot Subroto hanya bisa melintas di dua jalur dari tiga jalur sebelumnya.

Terkait pembangunan tersebut, pihaknya mengaku belum mendapat tembusan resmi dari PT Jakarta Monorail terkait pemindahan jalur selama pembangunan berlangsung. "Tapi sebagaimana biasanya, petugas tetap kami intensifkan di daerah-daerah padat. Termasuk untuk kawasan Pejompongan yang sedang ada proyek itu," ungkapnya.

Menurut warga sekitar, pembangunan tersebut memang membuat kawasan lalu lintas semakin sibuk. Jika pada hari biasa kemacetan kerap terjadi di sekitar perempatan Pejompongan, saat ini kemacetan semakin bertambah. "Biasanya di daerah sini macet karena ada perlintasan kereta. Atau karena banyak pengendara yang tidak disiplin," kata Roy, warga setempat yang kerap ngetem di samping perlintasan kereta.

Seharusnya, dengan pembangunan tersebut, baik aparat kepolisian maupun aparat dari dishub harus lebih intensif lagi mengatur lalu lintas. "Seringnya sih tidak ada petugas," ungkapnya. (aak)

Diprioritaskan di Senayan

2007-07-05T22:58:00.000+07:00

Stasiun Monorel Diprioritaskan di Senayan

Republika | JAKARTA-- Pembangunan tiang pancang dan stasiun monorel akan diprioritaskan di daerah yang sibuk seperti Senayan dan Kuningan. Sementara pondasi monorel di kawasan Senayan, Jakarta Pusat, sudah mulai dikerjakan sejak bulan lalu.

Direktur Operasional PT Jakarta Monorail, Sukmawaty Syukur, mengatakan pembangunan monorel di Senayan dikerjakan karena pihaknya mengejar penyelesaian pondasi sebagai dasar pembangunan monorel cepat selesai. Setelah itu, pembangunan monorel berlanjut ke jalur hijau (Senayan-Kuningan).

Penyelesaian pembangunan monorel diharapkan berjalan segera setelah financial closing pembiayaan kereta rel tunggal itu rampung. "Rencananya PT Jakarta Monorail menyelesaikan financial closing dengan perbankan nasional Juli ini," tuturnya, Rabu (4/7).

Sukmawaty menambahkan pembangunan monorel harus dimulai secepat mungkin. Ini untuk memperoleh jaminan dari pemerintah pusat. Menteri Keuangan mensyaratkan monorel harus selesai dibangun dan beroperasi pada tahun 2010. Bila syarat itu tidak terpenuhi, pemerintah pusat tidak bersedia menanggung renteng jaminan sebesar 22,5 juta dolar AS ketika penumpang monorel tidak mencapai 160 ribu penumpang per hari.

Hingga bulan ketujuh tahun ini, belum terlihat ada kelanjutan yang signifikan dalam pembangunan monorel. Padahal tak lama setelah Menteri Keuangan mensyaratkan beroperasi pada 2010, Gubernur DKI Jakarta, Sutiyoso, mengatakan pada April lalu pembangunan monorel sudah akan dimulai.

Asisten Pembangunan DKI Jakarta, Nurfakih Wirawan, mengatakan Pemprov DKI belum menerima laporan resmi dari PT Jakarta Monorail mengenaio kelanjutan proyek monorel. Namun dia menegaskan pemprov memiliki komitmen tinggi untuk memastikan monorel bisa beroperasi. "Kami ingin barang ini jadi," katanya menegaskan.

Pemprov, sambung dia, menghendaki monorel bisa terealisir sebagai bagian dari pola transportasi makro (PTM). Dalam PTM, monorel menempati skala kerumitan pengerjaan nomor dua.

Nurfakih memperkirakan kendala yang dihadapi PT Jakarta adalah sulitnya menghimpun dana untuk membangun monorel. Sehingga sampai kini proses financial closing untuk memulai proyek monorel tak kunjung tuntas. "Tapi saya juga tidak bisa memastikan kendala PT Jakarta Monorail, itu harus tanya langsung dengan Jakarta Monorail," katanya. Dalam waktu dekat Pemprov DKI akan meminta PT Jakarta Monorail menyampaikan laporan resminya.
(ind )

Monorail project 'not to derail'

2007-07-05T22:25:00.000+07:00

Monorail project 'not to derail' despite bank doubts
Thursday, July 05, 2007

Mustaqim Adamrah and Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Monorail developer PT Jakarta Monorail (JM) says the mass rapid transportation development will stay on schedule despite the fact that a local bank consortium expected to partly finance the project has still not finalized the deal.

"We hope our financing scheme agreement with several national banks will be complete this month," JM director Sukmawaty Syukur told The Jakarta Post Wednesday.

"The financing program will match the schedule required by the Finance Ministry, and thus monorails will up and running in 2010," she said.

She declined to discuss the details of the bank negotiations, saying JM was bound by a non-disclosure agreement.

According to city assistant secretary for development Nurfakih Wirawan, the banks grouped in the consortium will fund two-thirds of the US$500 million project and JM the rest.

Local banks, including state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Mandiri, as well as city-owned Bank DKI, have shown interest in funding the long-delayed project after the government issued a letter of guarantee in April.

The latest one expected to provide loans was a Middle East consortium, including the Dubai Islamic Bank, that earlier agreed to secure a $500 million loan but left after finding out the Islamic financing scheme it offered did not match Indonesian regulations.

President director of city-owned DKI Bank Winny E. Hassan said the main concern of the banks was that they had no experience in handling such a project while it required a significant amount of money.

"It is hard to set a formula that can secure the project could provide a sufficient amount of benefit to us and we are still working on risk management issues," she said.

Winny said the banks could not rely on the government's guarantee that they would cover their losses if passengers failed to reach 160,000 per day since the government and the banks had yet to discuss the detail of the subsidy plan.

"If we experience a default in the project, it would significantly downgrade our risk rating and it's bad for our whole business," she said.

Winny said although the discussion on the project was already halfway through she could not be sure when the banks would reach a final say on the project.

Governor Sutiyoso had repeatedly criticized ultimatums for JM with the latest one in late June requiring it to find money by October or be replaced by another firm.

The city administration has, however, never penalized JM but instead kept extending its concessions.

The project, which will comprise two separate monorail lines, is part of the city's planned integrated transportation system, which is aimed at overcoming perennial traffic chaos.

The monorail's green line will run through South Jakarta's Kuningan business district, along Jl. Sudirman to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. The blue line will link Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta with Roxy in West Jakarta.

The on-and-off construction of the monorail has left a series of pillars along some main thoroughfares in South Jakarta.

Harus selesai 2010

2007-07-05T15:29:00.000+07:00

Megaproyek Molor, Jaminan Dicabut

indopos - PT Jakarta Monorail harus segera membangun kembali monorel. Sebab, pemerintah pusat menargetkan megaproyek itu harus selesai pada 2010. Jika molor, maka pusat tidak akan memberikan jaminan shortfall (tanggungan kekurangan penumpang). "Ya, pembangunan monorel harus dimulai secepat mungkin untuk memeroleh jaminan dari pemerintah pusat," kata Direktur Operasional PT Jakarta Monorail Sukmawaty Syukur kepada wartawan di Jakarta, kemarin.

Menteri Keuangan RI mensyaratkan monorel harus selesai dibangun dan beroperasi pada 2010. Bila syarat itu tak terpenuhi, pemerintah pusat tidak bersedia menanggung renteng jaminan sebesar USD 22,5 juta ketika penumpang monorel tidak mencapai 160 ribu penumpang per hari. Sayangnya, hingga Juli ini, belum ada kelanjutan pembangunan monorel tersebut.

Saat Indo Pos melihat kelanjutan pembangunan monorel di kawasan Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan, belum ada pekerja bangunan yang membangun pondasi monorel tersebut. Pondasi itu masih berupa kerangka besi yang di bawahnya sudah dilapisi semen.

Kenyataan ini jauh berbeda dengan keinginan Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso yang ingin pembangunan monorel mulai dilakukan pada April. Dijelaskan Sukmawaty, pembangunan tiang pancang dan stasiun monorel akan diprioritaskan pada kawasan sibuk. Salah satunya di kawasan Senayan, Jakarta Pusat.

Menurutnya, pembangunan pondasi di kawasan Senayan akan mulai dikerjakan sejak bulan lalu. Sukmawaty mengatakan, pembangunan monorel di Senayan dikerjakan karena PT Jakarta Monorail mengejar penyelesaian pondasi sebagai dasar pembangunan monorel. Setelah itu pembangunan monorel berlanjut ke jalur hijau (green line) atau Senayan-Kuningan. Daerah sibuk yang dimaksud adalah Senayan dan Kuningan.

Sementara itu, menurut Asisten Pembangunan DKI Jakarta Nurfakih Wirawan, Pemprov DKI Jakarta belum menerima laporan resmi dari PT Jakarta Monorail mengenai kelanjutan proyek monorel. "Tetapi pemprov memiliki komitmen tinggi untuk memastikan monorel bisa beroperasi di Jakarta. Kami ingin barang ini jadi," ujarnya.

Nurfakih mengatakan, pemprov menghendaki monorel bisa terealisasi sebagai bagian dari pola transportasi makro (PTM) Jakarta. Dalam PTM, monorel menempati skala kerumitan pengerjaan nomor dua. Di atas monorel yang termasuk transportasi light rail adalah MRT atau mass rapid transit yang akan dibangun dari Lebak Bulus sampai Dukuh Atas.

Di bawah monorel terdapat busway dan waterway, kedua PTM ini sudah beroperasi. Pihaknya mengakui, kendala yang dihadapi PT Jakarta Monorail adalah sulitnya menghimpun dana untuk membangun monorel. "Sehingga sampai kini proses financial closing untuk memulai proyek monorel tak kunjung tuntas. Tetapi saya juga tak bisa memastikan kendala PT Jakarta Monorail, itu harus tanya langsung dengan Jakarta Monorail," katanya. Dalam waktu dekat, pemprov akan meminta PT Jakarta Monorail menyampaikan laporan resminya.

Seperti diketahui, pembangunan monorel membutuhkan total dana USD 480 juta. Saat ini, pengerjaan monorel itu masih didanai swasta. Menurut Nurfakih, pemprov belum mengucurkan anggaran APBD karena harus melalui persetujuan dari DPRD DKI Jakarta. eko)

Undang undang Sukuk jadi ganjalan

2007-05-08T15:44:00.000+07:00

DIB Buntu, Bidik Bank Dalam Negeri
Bang Yos Janji Megaproyek Kelar Di Akhir Jabatan

Warga Jakarta berharap cemas menanti pembangunan megaproyek monorel. Pasalnya, proyek PT Jakarta Monorel yang didengung-dengungkan hingga kini masih terhambat biaya. Padahal, selama pengerjaan transportasi massal itu, mereka sudah banyak "menderita".

Namun jangan khawatir. Di akhir masa jabatannya, Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso berusaha menyelesaikan berbagai proyek yang tertunda. Salah satu adalah monorel. Menurut Bang Yos-panggilan Sutiyoso-untuk melanjutkan kembali pembangunan kereta berrel satu, pihaknya akan bekerja sama dengan bank-bank dalam negeri.

Menurut rencana, bank-bank dalam negeri inilah yang akan membiayai proyek senilai USD 480 juta tersebut. Sutiyoso mengatakan, Rabu mendatang, bank tersebut akan menemui dirinya dan investor monorel, PT Jakarta Monorail, untuk membicarakan pembiayaan. Saat ditanya bank-bank mana saja yang akan datang pada pertemuan tersebut, mantan Pangdam Jaya itu tidak hafal. "Saya tidak hafal karena yang mengundang bank-bank tersebut adalah PT Jakarta Monorail," ujar dia.

Pertemuan dengan bank-bank dalam negeri terpaksa ditempuh karena investor monorel sebelumnya, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), tak bisa menggelontorkan dana untuk membiayai proyek tersebut. "DIB tak bisa membiayai proyek monorel karena Indonesia belum memiliki Undang-Undang (UU) Sukuk," ujar Sutiyoso saat ditemui para wartawan di Balai Kota, kemarin.

Menurutnya, hal itu sangat mengecewakan karena DIB mempunyai sumber dana besar. Padahal, di Singapura saja sudah lama memiliki UU Sukuk. Meskipun tidak jadi dibiayai DIB, Bang Yos optimistis kalau bank-bank dalam negeri mampu membiayai pembangunan monorel. "Masa membiayai proyek Rp 3 triliun saja tidak mampu?" ujar dia.

Karena itu, Sutiyoso minta wartawan sabar agar rencana pertemuan dirinya dengan bank-bank dalam negeri itu dapat berjalan baik. "Tunggu saja kabar baiknya pada Rabu mendatang," ujar Sutiyoso.

Senada dengan Sutiyoso, Wakil Ketua DPRD DKI Jakarta Maringan Pangaribuan mengatakan, pihaknya optimistis bila bank-bank dalam negeri akan mampu membiayai proyek monorel. "Surat jaminan risiko dari pemerintah pusat dan DPRD sudah keluar, jadi tak ada masalah lagi dengan proyek monorel itu," ujar Maringan.

Direktur Operasional PT Jakarta Monorail (PT JM) Sukmawati Syukur juga optimistis bank-bank dalam negeri mampu membiayai monorel. Apabila nanti sepakat, bank-bank dalam negeri itu akan membentuk sindikasi bank nasional. Pihaknya menargetkan pada Juni mendatang sudah ada keputusan tentang pembiayaan monorel tersebut. "Sebelum ada perjanjian (tentang pembiayaan monorel tersebut) saya tidak akan berbicara banyak," ujar Sukmawati.

Menurut Sukmawati, yang nanti mengatur pertemuan adalah Bank DKI. Selama menunggu proses Financial Closing (kesepakatan) selesai, pihaknya melanjutkan pembangunan Green Line (Kuningan-Senayan). "Kita akan gunakan dana dari equiti PT JM sebesar USD 70 juta," kata dia.

Proyek monorel sendiri mengalami lika-liku panjang sebelum kembali dilanjutkan pembangunannya. Rencana awal, biaya untuk membangun dua jalur monorel, Blue Line dan Green Line, USD 650 juta. Namun PT JM berhasil menekan sejumlah pengeluaran, sehingga untuk membangun kedua jalur tersebut, hanya dibutuhkan USD 480 juta. PT JM sendiri terpaksa mengeluarkan dana USD 70 juta untuk membiayai proyek Green Line. Sisanya, akan ditanggung sindikasi bank dalam negeri.

Pembangunan Green Line ditargetkan selesai akhir 2009. Untuk membangun Green Line dibutuhkan dana USD 250 juta. Setelah Green Line selesai, PT JM melanjutkan pembangunan Blue Line, yang menghabiskan dana USD 160 juta.

Menurut Sukmawati, sindikasi bank dalam negeri tertarik untuk membiayai monorel karena Support Letter sudah diberikan pemerintah pusat. Sebenarnya, pihak bank dalam negeri itu menunggu Support Letter dari pemerintah pusat. Begitu keluar, mereka berani membiayai monorel.

Seperti diketahui, DIB bersedia mengucurkan investasi sebesar USD 525 juta, apabila ada jaminan risiko penumpang (shortfall) dari pemerintah pusat dan pemprov. Jadi, jika penumpang monorel kurang dari 160 ribu / hari, pemerintah pusat dan pemprov harus menanggung selisih kekurangan jumlah penumpang tersebut. Hitung-hitungan pemprov, bila pihaknya harus menanggung shortfall, berarti pihaknya harus menyediakan dana 22,5 juta dolar AS / tahun. (eko)

Monorel dimulai lagi

2007-05-01T15:51:00.000+07:00

Proyek Monorel Dimulai Lagi

Indopos - Pemerintah provinsi DKI Jakarta memulai lagi pembangunan monorel menyusul dikeluarkannya jaminan proyek oleh Menteri Keuangan. Surat Jaminan ini merupakan syarat yang harus dipenuhi pemerintah provinsi DKI Jakarta, agar kucuran dana dari Dubai Islamic Bank dapat direalisasikan.

"Saya sudah menerima berita jaminan itu dikeluarkan. Mestinya sudah dapat berjalan kita," kata Gubernur DKI Sutiyoso.Seperti diberitakan sebelumnya, melalui PT Jakarta Monorel dari pihak Dubai Islamic Bank sebagai investor proyek ini meminta kepada pemprov DKI untuk dapat memberikan jaminan risiko sebesar USD 500 juta.

Monorel, kata Sutiyoso, merupakan salah alternatif solusi untuk mengurangi kemacetan di Jakarta. Sekali jalan, monorel dapat mengangkut 750 penumpang. Namun, pembangunan monorel diperkirakan tidak akan selesai pada Oktober 2007, sesuai jadwal.

Pemerintah memutuskan untuk memberikan jaminan atas proyek pembangunan monorel Jakarta. Atas dasar itu, pemerintah pusat bisa menyediakan dana maksimal USD 11,25 juta per tahun selama lima tahun. Persetujuan ini masih harus mendapat pengesahan dari DPR.

Pembangunan jalur Kuningan-Gatot Subroto- Senayan-Sudirman-Pejompongan-Kuningan diperkirakan selesai 2008. Untuk jalur greenline, dari sekitar daerah Setiabudi menuju Kuningan akan memakan jarak sejauh 14,3 kilometer. Sementara untuk blueline, dari Kampung Melayu ke Roxy mencapai panjang 13,5 kilometer.(ind/jpnn)

Construction to resume

2007-04-21T06:36:00.000+07:00

Monorail construction to resume
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Construction of Jakarta's monorail will resume at the end of this month after a two year delay, despite the fact that a $500 million loan for the project from the Dubai Islamic Bank has not yet been received.
"PT Jakarta Monorail (JM), the project's developer, has some $70 million of equity as a guarantee to ask for a $180 million loan from a local bank consortium to restart the Green Line (monorail) project," Governor Sutiyoso said Thursday.

It was earlier estimated the two-line monorail project would cost US$650 million.
But Sutiyoso said JM would need only US$ 480 million because it did not have to make any asset guarantee to the Dubai Islamic Bank.
The monorail's Green Line, which will run through Central and South Jakarta, is projected to cost the company US$250 million while for the Blue Line, which will run through East Jakarta and West Jakarta, will cost US$230 million.

The Dubai Islamic Bank had agreed to invest in the project on assurances the central government and the city administration would cover half of the losses incurred in the operation of the monorail.
After the government issued its guarantee letter earlier this month, several local banks including BRI bank, BNI bank, Mandiri bank and the city-owned DKI bank, showed their interest in funding the project.

"We will have problems getting loans from the Dubai Islamic Bank because the bank is offering Islamic bonds (sukuk), which are not yet regulated for in our country," Sutiyoso said.
The House of the Representatives is currently deliberating one bill on Islamic banking and the other on the issuance of Islamic bonds.
The law on Islamic bonds was scheduled to have been passed last month.

Operational director of JM, Sukmawati Syukur, said the Dubai Islamic Bank was ready to disburse the loan anytime, but that JM was constrained by legal uncertainty from getting the funds.
"In the meantime we've decided to ask for loans from the local banks because the procedure is easier," she said.(05)

Monorail job will be done by 2008

2007-04-04T06:32:00.000+07:00

Monorail job will be done by 2008, Sutiyoso says
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Pressure from the finance minister to complete the monorail project by March 2010 does not seem to be affecting Governor Sutiyoso too much.
He said Tuesday he was confident of getting the job done because the monorail's construction was scheduled to resume at the end of the month.
"I am optimistic we can meet the deadline," Sutiyoso said at City Hall.

The central government issued Monday a letter of guarantee to enable the disbursement of a foreign loan for the project.
Issued through a ministerial decree, the finance minister also set the condition that the monorail project must be completed by March 2010 or it would revoke the blanket guarantee it offered to secure a US$500 million loan from the Dubai Islamic Bank.

The government will also provide about US$11.25 million per year for five years to cover any financial shortfalls in the monorail's operations.
The city administration must first pay its share of the guarantee scheme, which also amounts to $11.25 million, before the central government disburses its share.

The construction of the monorail began in 2004 but progression has been slow due to funding problems.
"If PT Jakarta Monorail can speed up the construction, the green line will be finished by 2008 at the latest," Sutiyoso said.

He added that in 2009 the consortium was expected to finish the blue line, so in 2010, both lines would be ready for operation.
The monorail's green line will run through the Kuningan business district in South Jakarta, along Jl. Sudirman and to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. The blue line will link Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta with Roxy in West Jakarta.

Jakarta Monorail director Sukmawaty Syukur echoed Sutiyoso's confidence the project would be finished ahead of the deadline imposed by the Finance Ministry.
"Once we finish discussing financial matters -- by the end of the week -- we will be able to resume building activities," she told The Jakarta Post.

Besides Dubai Islamic Bank, a number of local banks have expressed interest in the project. A team from Jakarta Monorail is discussing the possibility of opting for more local borrowings.
Sukmawaty said the construction of the monorail columns began last year.
She said there was no problem with the company starting the construction before it got the money, as banks had signed agreements to guarantee they would provide loans for the project.

Sayogo Hendrosubroto, who sits on City Council Commission D for development, said the central government had the authority to issue a decree on the monorail project.
He said he understood the Finance Ministry's decision to set tough conditions for the Jakarta administration and Jakarta Monorail because the people's money was at stake.

"In order to secure the funds the government has poured into the project, it is appropriate to set a deadline," he said, adding that Jakarta was not the only concern of the central government. (05)

Selesai 3 Tahun

2007-04-03T14:06:00.000+07:00

Sutiyoso Optimistis Proyek Monorel Selesai 3 Tahun
Penulis: Selamat Saragih

JAKARTA--MIOL: Gubernur DKI Sutiyoso optimistis proyek monorel di Jakarta selesai dalam tempo tiga tahun. Soalnya, bulan ini juga pekerjaan proyek monorel pasti dilanjutkan.

Hal itu diungkapkan Sutiyoso di Balai Kota DKI, Selasa (3/4), menanggapi pasal yang tertera dalam Peraturan Menteri Keuangan tentang proyek monorel harus selesai dalam tempo tiga tahun. Bila tidak, proyek itu akan dibatalkan.

Berdasarkan catatan Media Indonesia, sejak pemancangan tiang pertama oleh Presiden Megawati Soekarnoputri 2004 lalu, proyek monorel tersendat karena belum ada investor. Namun kini, konsorsium dari Dubai mau membiayai proyek monorel setelah ada jaminan dari pemerintah.

"Kalau pekerjaan proyek monorel dikebut, rute 'green line' sudah jadi tahun 2008. Kemudian menyambung ke rute 'blue line' tahun 2009, sehingga semua sudah rampung dan mulai beroperasi tahun 2010," ungkap Gubernur.

Sementara itu, Sekda DKI Ritola Tasmaya secara terpisah mengatakan proyek monorel tetap berlanjut mengingat bank dalam negeri juga sudah tertarik terhadap proyek ini. Apalagi ada jaminan subsidi dari Pemprov DKI dan pemerintah pusat masing-masing 50% untuk menutupi bila tidak mencapai target sebanyak 160 ribu penumpang per hari.

"Kalau monorel hanya mampu mengangkut penumpang 80 ribu per hari berarti 80 ribu penumpang lainnya disubsidi Pemprov dan pemerintah pusat masing-masing 40 ribu dikali Rp7.500 per orang," ujar Ritola. (Ssr/OL-06)

Government pressures Jakarta on monorail

2007-04-03T06:28:00.000+07:00

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The central government said Monday the Jakarta monorail project must be completed by March 2010, or it would revoke the blanket guarantee it offered to help secure a US$500 million loan from the Dubai Islamic Bank.

"The monorail must have begun operating with a capacity of 270,000 passengers a day within 36 months after the ministerial decree on the scheme was issued. If this requirement is not met, the decree will be revoked," said Finance Ministry spokesperson Samsuar Said.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati earlier approved a request from the Jakarta administration that the central government issue a letter of guarantee to enable the disbursement of a foreign loan for the project.

The guarantee was issued through a ministerial decree that took effect March 15. The decree states the central government will provide funds to guarantee the project. The policy has been approved by the House of Representatives.

The government, the ministry said, will provide about US$11.25 million per year for five years to cover any financial shortfalls in the monorail's operations.

However, the funds can only be disbursed after the city administration pays its share of the guarantee scheme, which also amounts to $11.25 million.

Dubai Islamic Bank has agreed to provide a $500 million loan to finance the project, on the condition that the central government and the city administration cover any losses if the number of monorail passengers falls below 160,000 a day.

The ministerial decree requires the city administration to allocate its share of the guarantee funds in its budget, with the approval of the City Council, before the monorail begins operating.

Another condition is that the company appointed to run the monorail must be audited and assessed by an independent consultant to ensure it has the capability to carry 270,000 passengers a day.

PT Jakarta Monorail, the developer of the project, previously named Hong Kong train operator Mass Transit Railway Corporation as its partner. After the regulation was issued, the company said it also would team up with Indonesia's state railway company, PT KAI, said Jakarta Monorail director Sukmawaty Syukur.

With an estimated total cost of $650 million, two monorail routes are planned: a green line and a blue line. The project has been envisioned as part of a future integrated mass rapid transportation system.

The city administration hopes to have the monorail running by 2009, though its construction has been on and off since it commenced in 2004.

With stronger financial backing from Dubai Islamic Bank, it is hoped the project can be completed before the deadline set by the central government. A consortium of local banks led by Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is said to have expressed interest in the project.

Build attitudes

2007-02-20T22:27:00.000+07:00

Build attitudes, not just sophisticated transportation
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - Jakarta Post

Nothing short of visionary is how one would describe the master plan for Jakarta's integrated transportation system: the busway, the monorail, the subway, inner-city trains, river transportation and the regular bus routes as support.

Optimists say it is a matter of time. Pessimists scoff at it as a pipe dream.

In terms of technology and resources, this vision is more than plausible. Now that the Jakarta administration is an autonomous authority, it has the political weight to implement such a grandiose, but needed, project.

There is no question this metropolis requires a modern, efficient and environmentally friendly Mass Rapid Transport system.

Of the estimated 29.1 million people who commute into Jakarta daily, more than half use some form of public transportation.

Jakarta can no longer rely on the dysfunctional network of shabby public buses, pollution discharging mini buses and the tin-can-on-wheels mini vans that pack a dozen passengers into a single square meter.

If the rights of public bus passengers were high on the agenda of groups like Amnesty International, then an international tribunal would surely have been convened.

Passengers are treated worse than sardines as they are inhumanely crammed and driven on a route as smooth as the Paris-Dakar rally.

At least with the sardines the fish were dead.

No wonder people will go to any extreme to have their own vehicle.

There are now more than 6.5 million registered vehicles in the capital, about 23 percent of which are cars and 51 percent motorcycles.

Road capacity cannot keep pace with the demands of drivers. The total length of roads -- which stands at 7.6 million kilometers at present -- increases by 1 percent a year on average, while the average annual growth of the motor vehicle fleet in the city is 9 percent.

Though it may not be pleasing to car dealerships, many are hopeful the introduction of an MRT will lessen our dependence on private vehicles.

At present, the motto of Jakarta's transportation system seems to be "Unsafe, unhealthy, uncomfortable and impractical ... But it works."

There is no reason to think the vision cannot be realized and the motto altered to "Safe, comfy, reliable ... And it works even better."

But the construction of MRT infrastructure may not be the biggest challenge in making Jakarta's congested streets more user-friendly.

The deficiencies of the public transportation system certainly make life tough for commuters, but it is excessive selfishness and overbearing thoughtlessness that make Jakarta's roads a pain to navigate in the first place.

Judging by the traffic, any laymen might conclude that half the problems on the road are caused by indisciplined bus, car and motorcycle drivers.

The introduction of an MRT will not rectify embedded recalcitrance.

Buses stop wherever and whenever they please. Bus stops -- when there is one -- are nothing but shelters for cigarette kiosks.

Motorcyclists do not know how to use their breaks. Car drivers' personal margin for error is seized upon by motorcyclists as an opportunity to overtake at all costs.

Motorcyclists are comforted by the proverbial law of the streets: The driver of a car that hits a motorcycle is always at fault, irrespective of the motorcyclists' recklessness.

Car drivers aren't saints either. Many probably have never passed a driver's license exam.

This lack of decorum extends also to public transportation users. Buses become battlegrounds, with people elbowing their way in, even before the vehicle stops.

Passengers don't have the courtesy to wait for those trying to get off the bus before boarding.

It does not help either when passengers get irritated and start banging on the bus when it doesn't stop immediately when they want to get off.

The busway has been relatively successful in teaching passengers some manners, but even that requires dozens of guards, to make sure people stay in line.

It seems that just about everybody needs reeducation in basic manners and etiquette in public and on the roads, starting with our young.

Police should not only reinforce traffic regulations but promote road safety, from high school level if necessary.

Just because someone knows how to turn the ignition key to the "on" position and step on the brakes does not mean they should be allowed on the road.

Finally, we should also seek to recalibrate our approach to life. Often cars are used for the express purpose of showing off, rather than transportation.

It has gotten to the point that people are so accustomed to air conditioning, they refuse to expose themselves to the elements for more than five minutes.

Just look at hotel or mall parking lots and see how drivers are ready to spend countless minutes going round and round near a lobby entrance waiting for an open parking spot rather than walking an additional 20 meters to where a free one is available.

Even with the MRT infrastructure in place, without a change in attitude, the vision of a bustling yet orderly Jakarta will remain a pipe dream.

-- Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

The wrong guarantee

2006-12-16T22:29:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post
Saturday, December 16, 2006

The central government, bowing to pressure from vested interests, has moved to provide a guarantee for the messy monorail project in Jakarta, so that the project owners can secure financial support from the Dubai Islamic Bank.

It was Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, the main promoter of this controversial project, who announced that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had issued a presidential regulation as a legal basis for the government guarantee.

Sutiyoso picked the perfect time to make the announcement; i.e. when the media and most people were focused on a sex scandal involving a Golkar politician and the issue of polygamy. With virtually no one paying attention, there has been little or no debate, let alone objections, to the central government's blunder, or deliberate mistake, in providing the guarantee.

Why blunder or deliberate mistake?

First of all, the monorail is a bad project, which does not mean it is not important or necessary. We agree with the supporters of the project that the monorail would help solve the chronic traffic jams in the capital. However, the project is bad in the way it has been conceived.

The monorail project began in early 2001 as an unsolicited proposal from a Malaysian investor, which had successfully built the monorail in Kuala Lumpur. At the time, Sutiyoso did not seem very interested, focusing instead on the busway project. That quickly changed and he latched onto the monorail.

Sutiyoso approved the proposal, put forward by PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC), partnered with MTrans Malaysia, to build a 22.5-kilometer monorail line from Bekasi to Mega Kuningan, using money from Malaysia. The grand plan at the time was that the monorail would connect Bekasi and Jakarta, as well as Jakarta and Tangerang -- a good plan indeed.

However, in its development, the whole setup of the monorail changed. Out of the blue, PT ITC was out as an investor, replaced by PT Jakarta Monorail (JM). It is unclear what prompted this change, which affected the scope of the project itself. The monorail would no longer connect Bekasi, Jakarta and Tangerang, but would instead run through the heart of the city. Again, we don't know why the project changed, as there has never been any public discussion of the issue.

Despite repeated promises by PT Jakarta Monorail to bring in money to finance the US$600 million project, it turned out that PT JM did not have the credibility required to attract financial backing from investors. As a result, work on the project has been sporadic, starting and stopping in fits, punishing motorists who must pass those areas affected by the construction.

After repeated failures to secure financial support, PT JM received a positive response from the Dubai Islamic Bank, which committed to providing a $500 million loan, at a price, of course. The bank demanded a guarantee from the city administration and the central government that they would cover any shortfalls if the project failed to reach preset revenue targets.

The city administration was quick to agree, but the central government was divided. Vice President Jusuf Kalla, whose family business entity Bukaka is involved in the project, favored supporting the monorail with the guarantee, but Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati refused to yield, saying that providing the guarantee would violate the rules governing guarantees for infrastructure projects -- Presidential Regulation No. 67/2005 and Finance Ministry Decree No. 38/PMK.01/2006.

In response to growing pressure, Sri Mulyani came up with two alternatives: making the monorail qualify for the guarantee by first of all holding an open tender for the project, or revising the presidential regulation governing the guarantee.

Sadly, the government seems to have chosen the second alternative. This is deplorable for a number of reasons. First, the monorail is a badly conceived project. Second, since the Kalla family business entity Bukaka is involved, people may speculate that the decision to change the rules was motivated more by cronyism rather than public interest.

Also, giving a guarantee to an ongoing project like the monorail sets a bad precedent. Owners of other infrastructure projects may halt work and demand a government guarantee, or vested interests will start an infrastructure project and then demand a government guarantee.

Considering all the downside of this guarantee, we would urge all parties concerned, especially those with power at their disposal, such as the House of Representatives, to move in and quash the deal. Otherwise, we would expect the Corruption Eradication Commission eventually to move against those people responsible for the guarantee, once when they are no longer in power.

Public transportation in Jakarta

2006-09-21T22:30:00.000+07:00

Public transportation in Jakarta
Thursday, September 21, 2006 - The Jakarta Post

J. Scott Younger OBE, Jakarta

Much has been written and many comments made with respect to public transportation provision in Jakarta, with everything from the busway, MRT, feeder services and monorail being included in the debate. The fact is that every major developing city in the world has had or is suffering serious traffic congestion as the urban population grows and the disposable income of the people increases, fueling their desire to own their own form of transport.

Jakarta is no exception and is not helped by the growing satellite developments which make up the Jabodetabek metropolis. Jakarta lacks transportation infrastructure in all its forms and it is worth looking at those which would have the greatest impact in the short to medium-term in helping to alleviate the congestion problem before we all come to a grinding halt.

Probably the most significant aspect which leads to traffic congestion in Jakarta is the simple fact that insufficient land area is given up to roads. In general, a city of the size and vehicle population of Jakarta should have at least 15 percent of its land area allocated to road systems; in Jakarta the figure is not much more than half of this.

Exacerbating the problem is too much traffic coming through the center of the city that has no business in the city. For example, trucks carrying goods from east to west or vice versa must come through the center of Jakarta due to the fact that the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, JORR, has never been completed.

Of course, we do not have the benefit of being able to start from a clean sheet of paper and design a transport efficient city, so we have to recognize the limitations and plan accordingly, something that faces most large conurbations. To do nothing is unacceptable. What is important, however, is that whatever we do must be to add capacity to the network, not erode it.

To put it simply, the busway, while being a boon, particularly for office commuters, reduces road capacity, as currently conceived, whereas the monorail adds to it. In addition, the monorail is environmentally friendly and does not add pollution to the third ranked most polluted city in the world.

I lived for many years in Bangkok, an equally polluted and then more congested city, before the city government embarked on tackling the infrastructure needs of the city, a mixture of all the things that Jakarta is aspiring to. A significant private sector promoted element of the new infrastructure is the elevated rail system there, now heavily used daily by the citizens of the city.

It should be remembered that the route the monorail will take on both the Green Line around the Central Business District (CBD) and the Blue Line feeding into the CBD was chosen after much study and research by both independent international consultants and the Jakarta administration. It took nearly two years to study and finalize the routing resulting in a solution which is aimed at maximizing the benefit to the traveling public.

This routing coupled with adequate feeder bus services and related facilities at the terminals will bring real encouragement for people not to bring their cars into the city center. In fact, the monorail routing has been integrated, wherever possible, with other operational or planned public transport systems such as busways, the urban rail system and the planned north-south MRT system. Where the monorail interfaces with these other systems, the monorail stations will provide mode transfer facilities.

It is also worth reminding ourselves that the proposed Blue and Green lines represent only Phase 1. Phases 2 and 3 will link in Tangerang in the west and Bekasi in the east. These two cities alone contribute over one million road commuters a day into Jakarta.

There has also been much comment on the technology to be utilized for the monorail project. The Koreans may very well have offered their Maglev technology with some sort of financing package attached, but it must be remembered that Maglev technology has never been used in the world before on the scale planned for Jakarta. Maglev technology has proved itself on high speed point-to-point systems such as we see in Shanghai but there are no examples on low speed urban systems.

For a Mass Rapid Transport System, Maglev would have represented a pilot project for its proponents, Rotem. Should Jakarta have allowed itself to be used as a pilot project to help solve one of its most important infrastructure development needs? I think not.

The technology is simply unsuitable for the routing and it would be sheer stupidity to change the routing to suit the technology. It must be the routing that determines the best and most suitable technology. This is precisely why PT Jakarta Monorail and the Jakarta administration rejected Rotem in favor of the conventional, well tried and tested Straddle Type Monorail technology supported by Siemens through the local consortium now in place to build the project.

It should also be remembered that the agreement between PT Jakarta Monorail and the Jakarta administration to develop, build and operate the project was signed over two years ago.

During the past two years the small but dedicated team in Jakarta Monorail have worked hard to ensure that the project will be built in the most cost effective manner. The construction work we have all seen along Jl. Asia Afrika and Jl. Rasuna Said has been carried out through contracts which have been well scrutinized by international consultants to ensure their competitiveness.

The Project Director brought in to coordinate the construction work has vast experience and was previously the Engineering Project Director on the Channel Tunnel in the UK as well as other major rail projects in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. All this has been achieved through local private investment, a testament to local commitment in making a positive difference to the needs of Jakarta's transport infrastructure needs.

Most new public transport systems around the world struggle to make money in the early years, which is why they lend themselves to some form of short-term government support for initial operations. The support the Jakarta Monorail is obtaining from the central as well as city government is modest to say the least, clearly demonstrating the management's confidence that the project will be a success.

What is much more important is the message this support gives to investors, whether foreign or domestic. It shows that this government is serious about infrastructure development. The Jakarta Monorail will be the most significant infrastructure development since the economic crisis of the late 1990s. The timing could not be better with the forthcoming Second Infrastructure Summit scheduled for early November.

The government should hail this project as a major success in evaluating the risks, working together with the private sector and lending its support in a way which will benefit the people of Jakarta. When this government came to power it immediately recognized the need to do something different to accelerate the development of infrastructure. Much is going on but this project represents the first major milestone in a way that is so visible to the world at large.

For too long the government has been seen as being indecisive. There have been calls for the project to be audited or re-tendered. If this were to happen the investor community would throw their arms up in despair, 'not again' they would say. 'When is this government going to build something rather than just talk about it', they would add.

It should be remembered that Indonesia is not the only developing country which needs private sector investment. India and China, with huge investment appetites, are very attractive destinations for private investors. It is time for Indonesia to put itself on the map and the Jakarta Monorail is a significant milestone in doing that.

The writer has undertaken many projects in infrastructure in many Asian countries, and contributed to many discussions and forums concerned with infrastructure development, latterly with a focus on Indonesia. He is President Commissioner of project developers PT Glendale Partners and of PT Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk. He can be reached at scott.younger@glendalepartners.com

People's life imitating art?

2006-09-02T22:33:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta monorail adventure -- People's life imitating art?
Saturday, September 02, 2006 - The Jakarta Post

David O'Brien, Jakarta

There is an episode of The Simpsons, which remains eerily reminiscent of the Jakarta monorail project. A monorail project sponsor arrives in Springfield and is enthusiastically embraced by the mayor. Marge Simpson tries to argue that the funds would be better committed to road repairs. However the monorail wins and it all ends in tears.

The ongoing saga of the Jakarta monorail would be as amusing as The Simpsons were not so many millions of dollars at stake along with Jakarta's mobility future. Here is a brief history for those that are new to the series.

Back in 2004 the contract was awarded to a consortium led by one of the Malaysian monorail operators. It utilized Hitachi technology (the train design used around current construction works is a throw back to such times). This consortium however was the first to face difficulties sourcing finance and their agreement lapsed.

The project was subsequently revived by the Indonesian members of the original consortium JM (PT Jakarta Monorail) joining with Omnico of Singapore. This new relationship started to sour soon after the joint venture contract was signed.

Initially there were disagreements about equity contributions and later disagreements over the technology to be used. Omnico proposed proven Korean magnetic levitation technology (ROTEM), whereas JM favored wheels on a central rail to be developed by local contractors.

The Korean technology was proven and backed by committed bilateral loans totaling US$600 million and equity of $70 million and were capable of financial close. With no moving parts one would assume annual operating costs would be lower for such technology.

The arguments about cost became very specious over this period. JM often quoted their solution as costing $500 million versus $600 million for ROTEM. However the JM capital cost estimate has now reached $650 million for the wheels on rail technology. It remains unclear if one party was calculating a total cost inclusive of interest on construction and the other perhaps the straight capital cost.

Nevertheless a new impasse developed until Omnico finally left the consortium and was replaced by a group of state owned companies and Bukaka. This new consortium missed a series of cut off dates for financial close but received generous extensions until a backer has been found and their risk mitigated by government.

The ministry of finance initially refused to support the project, ostensibly due to the lack of transparency in the tender process. It could also be that their independent risk assessment failed to find evidence of how the "private sector" (predominately state owned enterprises and Bukaka) were sharing risks equally with their right to construct and operate the concession.

Negotiations continued and a new form of guarantee created. This will be up to $22.5 million per year if passenger numbers are not met. The minimum number of passengers budgeted is 160,000/day.

By way of comparison Blok M Jakarta busway is reported as having 60,000 passengers on a weekday and 40,000 on weekends. A monorail has more capacity than a bus but cannot run at such short intervals to drop and collect new passengers.

Now the project developer is free to gain the development profit, lenders are guaranteed and the task of ensuring passenger numbers falls back upon government. The developer/operator is likely to make little effort to encourage customers as there is no financial incentive to do so.

The end result is that facilities could tend to the basic side to maximize development and operating profits. Escalators from street level to raised stations could be avoided (high electricity cost), rolling stock limited in number and have a very basic fit out along with that of the stations.

It is now reported that the developer has identified ways for the Jakarta administration to help reach the magic number of 160,000. Not surprisingly these are all capital intensive solutions pushed back to the government for the "private sector" project.

The first is the development of car parking at key monorail points. Given the initial monorail incorporates Jakarta's Golden Triangle this represents the most expensive land in the country and will be a costly car park.

The developer has also helpfully suggested their previous idea to make the project financially feasible-- electronic road pricing. The plan was that this would be implemented along the monorail routes to shift people from their cars. The feasibility must be questionable as JM failed to reach a financial close with it as a solution.

The total capital cost for the project is now forecast at $650 million by the developer/operator. This figure is now not so far from the $600 million in bilateral loans and $70 million in equity that was given as a firm offer by the alternative Korean developer/operator.

It also seems that Jakarta Monorail has limited equity of its own. To obtain subsidy funding the Jakarta government claimed the project was not subject to tender as it is "private". However if government funds are guaranteeing, what is the definition of private? Subsequently the Jakarta government is examining the disbursement of emergency funds of nearly $25 million to accelerate construction.

Now the project costed at $650 million. The government is committed to another $22.5 million a year for five years if passenger numbers are not met as is likely. The project is facing a total cost of $762.5 million before estimates of potential capital investments in parking facilities etc.

The current fare being proposed is an average of Rp 7,500 rupiah. With assorted other competing transport options in the area ranging from busway at Rp 3,500, mini bus Rp 2,000, shared taxis and motorcycle taxis, reaching 160,000 passengers seems optimistic for the initial circle line.

The issue is that this first monorail will only run from around the golden triangle area. Busway brings and takes people from a key transport hub at Blok M to various office towers in the CBD and on to the range of businesses and shopping/entertainment areas of North West Jakarta. If integrated with other transport and with an inclusive fare similar to the busway it may be more feasible.

The capital costs of the various mass transport solutions have been reported: ($ million per km) $45 -$105 for subway, $20-25 for monorail and $2-5 for busway.

For just the cost of the underwriting of the "private" consortium of $125 million, there could be in the region of an additional 50 km of bus rapid transport systems. Faced with limited budget and given its success, additional busways and associated feeders to satellite suburbs and interchanges could offer a better immediate solution.

The wrier is a Technical Advisor at CSA Strategic Advisory which assists businesses address change by originating strategy and successfully executing. He may be contacted at dobrien@csadvisory.com.

Critics for monorail support plans

2006-08-29T07:03:00.000+07:00

Groups quick to criticize monorail support plans
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An environmental group and a transportation organization have criticized the city administration's plans to build support facilities for the monorail project.
The proposed facilities would include feeder bus stations, a "park-and-ride" service and an electronic road pricing (ERP) system that would oblige car drivers to pay a fee when entering a monorail route.

"I doubt those (facilities) will really solve the capital's chronic traffic jams as they will only be a complement to the monorail," a representative of the Indonesian Institute of Transportation told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Wayhudin said he believed the planned facilities could result in new traffic jams.

"We know that the new facilities will invite more vehicles to other areas. Have they (the administration) thought about that?" he said.
He also said he was unconvinced the administration had conducted an economic and social feasibility study on the ERP to confirm the impact it would have on the surrounding area, as it would mean access to some roads would be closed.

Tubagus Haryon Karbyanto, a member of the Jakarta Environment Caucus, said he too thought the ideas were not well planned.

"From the start, the city should have mentioned the plan even before the monorail project began so that we could establish an integrated transportation system in Jakarta to reduce the traffic," he said.

He added that the city administration needed to manage the city's transportation problem and its solution in a wider context.
"We cannot think like 'we have a problem with the monorail and we need a solution' and 'we have problem with the busway and we need a solution'," Tubagus said.

Both men said they felt the plan had been announced too quickly, seemed "premature" and did not work with the city's Macro Transportation Pattern.
The city administration said Thursday it planned to provide the types of supporting facility for the monorail in an effort to avoid a passenger shortfall. Both the central government and the city administration have agreed to guarantee the passenger shortfall on a fifty-fifty basis to the value of US$22.5 million over five years in the case of passenger numbers falling below 160,000 a day.

Wahyudin said the support facilities were not just focused on avoiding a shortfall but also on solving the city's traffic congestion.
He added that the administration needed to consider prioritizing the things needed to be done to manage the city's chaotic transportation system.
"Is providing the facility a major concern?" he said, adding that the administration also needed to consider the money needed to build the support structures.

Meanwhile, Tubagus said the administration should focus on providing supporting facilities for the busway before looking at the monorail.

"Busway corridors I, II and III are yet to have optimal feeder bus stations, so how come they want to build a new one for the monorail?" he said.

The number of vehicles in Jakarta grows by ten percent a year, while street area increases by just one percent. The Jakarta Police recorded at least 1.6 million cars operating in the city last year, while up to 400 new motor vehicle licenses are issued every day. (09)

Dumb and dumber

2006-08-25T22:36:00.000+07:00

Dumb and dumber
Friday, August 25, 2006 - The Jakarta Post

Are you one of the countless commuters greeted by the smiling face of our beloved governor of Jakarta, as you crawl southbound to what will shortly become the Kuningan parking lot, otherwise known as Jl. Rasuna Said? If so, you will no doubt be mulling the irony of the poster's assertion about the use of taxpayer money, in light of the folly which passes for Jakarta traffic planning in this part of the capital. As if the lane closures and unrepaired surfaces that characterize the delayed Jakarta monorail are not enough.

The new busway has now guaranteed that traffic will come to a standstill with effect from this week. At every level it's a misguided project. Wouldn't it seem sensible to build the busway passenger stations before laying the concrete busway itself? Jl. Rasuna Said will now lose a complete lane for a busway whose potential passengers have no means of entering or exiting the buses.

Nice work! Unlike Jl. Sudirman, which has several underpass or overpass options, such as Semanggi and the Jl. KH Mas Mansyur flyover, allowing traffic to change directions, Jl. Rasuna Said largely relies on U-turns. The already lengthy U-turn queues, up and down Jl. Rasuna Said during peak hours, will be made much worse by the fact that the busway is a concrete platform raised 12 inches above the level of the road.

Either the buses will have to "fly" across the newly made gaps, rather like Sandra Bullock in Speed, or cars will have to climb up a ramp onto the same level, and then down again, in order to effect a U-turn. In either case, with only one lane available for the rest of the traffic in the euphemistically named jalur cepat (fast lane), one thing is certain; gridlock will ensue.

Given that the funding concerns in the Jakarta monorail project are in part linked to its financial feasibility, for the Jakarta administration to place a cheaper alternative alongside doesn't appear to help much. It's probably too much to hope that their stations and supporting infrastructure will be integrated. Jakarta's commuters deserve better.

JAMES BRYSON
Jakarta

Project derailed

2006-08-08T22:38:00.000+07:00

Monorail project derailed
Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - The Jakarta Post

There are at least two possible reasons as to why the Dubai Islamic Bank consortium has persistently demanded a government guarantee for the US$500 million loan it plans to extend to PT Jakarta Monorail (JM). The bankers may not be comfortable with the financial and technical capability of JM and its partners or there are major faults within the contract between JM and the Jakarta city administration for the monorail development that makes the project financially unfeasible.

The central government, therefore, must review the whole $650 million project -- the build-operate and transfer (BOT) contract, the shareholding structure of JM and its ability to meet financing and other guarantees -- before it commits to help unleash the credit promised by the Dubai Islamic Bank consortium.

The utterly poor performance of PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC), JM's controlling shareholder, in handling the monorail project since 2003, seemed to be a major factor that made the Dubai bank syndicate increasingly doubtful of JM's technical capacity to handle such a large and complex project.

After failing to realize a cooperation agreement with Malaysian MTrans Holding Sdn Bhd in 2003 due to a dispute over "administrative matters", the ITC teamed up with Omnico consortium from Singapore in 2004 to set up a joint venture -- JM. Omnico then owned 45 percent of JM and it was this joint venture that signed the 30-year BOT contract with the Jakarta municipal administration in late May 2004 for the development of two lines of monorails, scheduled to be completed in 2007 and 2008.

However, not long after the groundbreaking ceremony in June 2004, ITC was again embroiled in a dispute with Omnico over the choice of the technology for the monorail system. Suddenly in mid-2005, the ITC invited a consortium of companies led by PT Bukaka Trans System, which is owned by the family of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, to join the project as the main contractor. And the project's construction has since continued without the approval and participation of Omnico, whose shareholding had reportedly been diluted to a mere 2 percent.

JM had reportedly awarded Bukaka contracts worth $176 million for the construction of rolling stock and state PT Adhi Karya also a shareholder of JM, $200 million contracts for civil works, both without competitive bids.

JM director Sukmawati Syukur boasted in August 2005 that JP Morgan would arrange foreign credit financing and AAA security-rated domestic financing for the project. But the project is being threatened now that the Dubai Bank consortium has insisted on a guarantee from the central government before funding it.

It is also strange that Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has so far remained lenient regarding JM although it violated the deadline for the financial closing (credit funding) for the project. It is almost certain now that the deadlines -- 2007 and 2008 -- for the completion of the two monorail lines will not be met.

The basic question now is why should the central government guarantee the loan. After all, the monorail project was designed as a wholly private project with the concession holder being solely responsible for all financing -- both debt and equity.

The BOT contract does stipulate that the Jakarta government shall do its best, in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations, to help JM obtain funding. But the laws require competitive bids and a comprehensive risk assessment for infrastructure projects for them to get government guarantees. The problem is that JM won the concession from the Jakarta administration without going through a competitive bidding process and JM directly appointed contractors for the project's construction.

The project should be financially sound, otherwise JM and its Bukaka-led partners would not have been so enthusiastic in pushing ahead with the construction work despite the delay and uncertainty about financing. In judging revenues streaming from the project, one should not take into account only monorail ticket fares, since JM would earn a lot from advertisements put on structures or buildings within the monorail cars, corridors and stations, not to mention rental fees from passenger lounges and retail shops in stations and other ancillary facilities. Even if this projected revenue stream is not high enough to allow for the ticket fares to be affordable to the common people, it will be worthwhile for the Jakarta administration to provide subsidies, at least during the first few years of operations, as it has been doing with the Busway transport service.

It is not clear until now what kind of guarantee the Dubai Bank consortium has demanded from the central government since most risks, even political risks, can already be covered by insurance policies.

If the guarantee is meant as a protection for the creditor against possible losses due to bankruptcy or insolvency, then the whole design of the project and its financial feasibility should be reassessed.

Train cheaper than subway

2006-07-17T06:42:00.000+07:00

Study says train cheaper than subway
The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: Revamping the railway service from Manggarai to Jatinegara would be cheaper and more efficient than constructing the planned Jakarta subway, a study says.
A study conducted by the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) shows that restoring the tracks and extending one line would cost only Rp 5 trillion (about US$544 million) and increase the capacity of the rail service.

A planned subway project connecting Lebak Bulus and Kota will require an estimated Rp 7.2 trillion in investment.
"The Rp 5 trillion already includes railway repairs and construction of a new 30-kilometer-long track, as well as renovations of stations," MTI railway forum coordinator Harun Al-Rasyid Lubis said quoted by newsportal Tempointeraktif on Friday.
He said the railway could serve an average of between four and five million passengers a day. -- JP

Monorail against Railroads Law

2006-06-02T07:13:00.000+07:00

Monorail goes ahead, despite being against Railroads Law
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso said Thursday the monorail project would go ahead, even though it has been argued it violates the 1992 Railroads Law.
The revision of the law is now being deliberated at the House of Representatives.
"Construction work will carry on simultaneously with the revision of the law at the House," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa, as quoted by Kompas, said the administration's decision to build the monorail system ran against the prevailing law.
Under the Railroads Law, the central government has the authority to manage rail transportation, which would include the monorail.
"If the law is not revised, the monorail's construction is against the law," he said, as quoted by the daily.

However, Sutiyoso said the minister clarified his statement by adding that the government fully backed the monorail project.
"This is in line with the spirit of regional autonomy," he said, adding that many laws were subject to revision as they were inimical to the regional autonomy law.
He therefore urged the House to immediately deliberate the revision of the Railroads Law, which he said was monopolistic.

Despite Sutiyoso's optimism, questions remain about the project's financing after the joint venture, PT Jakarta monorail Consortium (JMC), once again failed to get financial backing for the project before its deadline.
Sutiyoso had warned the consortium in early January to get financial backing by Jan. 31, or its agreement with the city administration would be terminated.

Since the consortium failed to meet the deadline, Sutiyoso gave them another respite until the end of May.
"I haven't had the time to meet them (JMC). I have been very busy," he said, when asked about the unsettled financing problem.

Jakarta Monorail director Sukmawaty Syukur said the consortium would announce its agreement with the Dubai Bank Consortium within two weeks.
She declined to give further information because the consortium had to talk about it with the governor and the City Council first.
"I realize we need to secure funding immediately, so that the construction work can continue," she told The Jakarta Post.

In February, JMC announced it had secured a US$500 million loan from the Dubai Islamic Bank, but the bank denied it had signed such a commitment.
Along with the busway, the monorail would be part of an integrated transportation system. The city hopes to encourage Jakartans to use public transportation to avoid traffic congestion and save gas.

Employing Siemens technology worth US$460 million, total funding for the project is estimated to reach US$650 million.
In the first stage, the monorail will have two routes, termed the Green line and the Blue line.
Targeted for completion by the end of 2007, the 14.3-kilometer Green Line will run from Jl. Rasuna Said to Jl. Gatot Subroto to Sudirman Central Business District to Senayan to Jl. Pejompongan and back to Jl. Rasuna Said via 14 stations.
The 13.5-km Blue Line, expected to be ready mid-2008, will connect Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, to Roxy, West Jakarta, via 11 stations. (01)

Monorail's future is bleak

2006-03-27T06:57:00.000+07:00

Monorail's future is bleak: Experts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With Governor Sutiyoso securing a US$500 million loan for the monorail, hopes are high that it will be provide a modern, efficient and fast mode of transportation for the congested city.
But a public transportation expert says the short routes currently planned for it and stiff competition among existing public transportation along the routes suggest a bleak future for the yet to be completed monorail.

"I predict the monorail project will suffer a severe loss. The demand is just not there to cover all the investment," Darmaningtyas, of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
He referred to the latest survey carried out by the ITDP.

Expected to up and running next year, the monorail will serve a 14.8 kilometer "green line" along Jl. HR Rasuna Said-Jl. Gatot Subroto-Jl. Asia Afrika-Jl. Karet business area and a 12.2 kilometer line from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Roxy in West Jakarta.
The survey found that the number of commuters from Kampung Melayu to the Kuningan area reached 1,500 people at peak hour and around 15,000 people for the whole day.

Most of these commuters are traveling to nearby destinations, preferring to take public minivans serving the route, which cost around Rp 2,000.
A ticket for the monorail on the same route will be Rp 7,500 for one trip.

Another weakness of the monorail, Darmaningtyas added, was commuters would have to walk considerable distances to get to their destinations or even take another form of public transport from the monorail stations.
"Commuters would most likely prefer to take a taxi with a group rather than taking the monorail. It would cost about the same or could even be cheaper."

A transportation expert from the Pelangi Indonesia Foundation, Andi Rahmah, added that it would be impossible for the monorail operator to meet the target of 270,000 passengers per day required to cover daily operational costs.
"The maintenance cost will be high because the stations use lots of electricity for their elevators," the City Transportation Council member told the Post.

"The developer also failed to calculate the inflation in the past two years that has increased the construction cost by 30 percent from the original proposal made in 2004. The increase has slowed down the construction."

Darmaningtyas said the monorail in Kuala Lumpur had transported 80,000 people a day in its first three months. "The number of passengers eventually decreased by half as they preferred to take a more accessible mode of public transportation."

"Mobility is not the only thing we need in our life. We also need space to breathe. What the city administration must do is to make the most of the already available public transport, such as the city train," he said. (04)

No impact analysis done on monorail

2006-03-24T07:18:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post - The developer of the monorail has acknowledged the company is yet to meet the requirement to carry out an environmental impact analysis, even though the project is already underway.

"What we have now is an impact analysis for the pre-construction period," the director of PT Jakarta Monorail, Sukmawaty Syukur, was quoted by Tempointeraktif.com as saying Thursday.
She said the delay was due to the tight construction budget and promised the analysis would soon be submitted to the Jakarta administration. -- JP

Alternative to monorail

2006-02-20T07:21:00.000+07:00

Thank you The Jakarta Post for keeping your readers informed on progress of the Jakarta Monorail. Your Article on Feb. 1 told us that a loan of US$500 million had been secured from the Dubai Islamic Bank and that there is a "tug-of-war" between Singapore's Omnico and South Korea's Rotem over who should supply the rolling stock. Apparently feasibility analysis and planning have a long way to go.

Civil works on the project have been started as can be seen by the construction on Jl. HR Rasuna Said. Not reported are the proposed ticket pricing and expected subsidy by the Jakarta administration.

And the bidding has not been opened to other parties, for instance Aeromovel, an innovative and environmentally friendly air-driven wheels-on-rails technology developed and operated in Brazil. This system has already been tested in operation on a minimum maintenance budget for 16 years at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and has been shown to be safe and reliable.

Although its peak passenger load is well below monorail or heavy rail, Aeromovel offers much greater flexibility in route design and cheaper wheels-on-rails technology than heavy rail, avoids over investment in monorail or heavy rail along an already over crowded passenger corridor and much lower capital costs per kilometer of track and total operating costs per passenger kilometer than monorail or heavy rail.

Governor Sutiyoso should insist that the consortium evaluates this people mover of the future before the Jakarta administration burdens this great city with a high-cost, high subsidy, one corridor system.

PETER DUNCAN
Cisarua, West Java

On monorail project and environment

2006-01-27T22:40:00.000+07:00

On monorail project and environment
Friday, January 27, 2006 - The Jakarta Post

In response to the letter entitled Monorail project and environment from Firdaus Cahyadi published in The Jakarta Post on Jan. 17, we feel further clarification is required.

Since the preconstruction, construction and up to its operational phases in building the monorail, PT Jakarta Monorail have and always been coordinating with the respected regional government institutions in order to maintain a minimal environment living quality as it had before it had any monorail construction.

For the monorail construction, studies and analysis are done toward a number of factors in the environment that may have direct and indirect impact, such as impact towards physics-chemicals, economic cultural, biology, people's welfare, as well as utility and infrastructure.

By considering the scheduled timing of construction of the mass transportation system that has been long awaited by the Jakarta community, a system that is a solution to the Jakarta traffic problems, studies and analysis on the number of factors have been conducted in parallel since the beginning of the project. Currently, the environmental impact analysis (Amdal) of the project is in its finalization.

We very much acknowledge that during the construction, the people of Jakarta will experience disturbances; nevertheless, we hope that the monorail construction will gain full support from the people of Jakarta in building a mode of transportation that is safe, reliable, on time and most importantly environment friendly.

Since most are electrically powered, monorails are non-polluting, run on rubber tires and with a minimum sound pollution.

Monorails are the most esthetically pleasing of all elevated rail systems. Their sleek design will blend in with modern urban environments in Jakarta. The speedy construction time result in less disruption to the surrounding environments, whether to business or residential.

SONIA RAMADHANI
, Project Office, PT Jakarta Monorail, Jakarta

On monorail project and environment

2006-01-27T07:25:00.000+07:00

In response to the letter entitled Monorail project and environment from Firdaus Cahyadi published in The Jakarta Post on Jan. 17, we feel further clarification is required.

Since the preconstruction, construction and up to its operational phases in building the monorail, PT Jakarta Monorail have and always been coordinating with the respected regional government institutions in order to maintain a minimal environment living quality as it had before it had any monorail construction.

For the monorail construction, studies and analysis are done toward a number of factors in the environment that may have direct and indirect impact, such as impact towards physics-chemicals, economic cultural, biology, people's welfare, as well as utility and infrastructure.

By considering the scheduled timing of construction of the mass transportation system that has been long awaited by the Jakarta community, a system that is a solution to the Jakarta traffic problems, studies and analysis on the number of factors have been conducted in parallel since the beginning of the project. Currently, the environmental impact analysis (Amdal) of the project is in its finalization.

We very much acknowledge that during the construction, the people of Jakarta will experience disturbances; nevertheless, we hope that the monorail construction will gain full support from the people of Jakarta in building a mode of transportation that is safe, reliable, on time and most importantly environment friendly.

Since most are electrically powered, monorails are non-polluting, run on rubber tires and with a minimum sound pollution.

Monorails are the most esthetically pleasing of all elevated rail systems. Their sleek design will blend in with modern urban environments in Jakarta. The speedy construction time result in less disruption to the surrounding environments, whether to business or residential.

SONIA RAMADHANI
Project Office, PT Jakarta Monorail, Jakarta

Calling for environmental impact analysis

2006-01-24T07:28:00.000+07:00

Monorail developer asked to be up front on environment
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City bureaucrats have promised much of the monorail, including cleaner air and fewer traffic jams, but others are calling for its construction to be halted pending an environmental impact analysis.
Coordinator of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's (WALHI) Jakarta chapter Slamet Darruiny said on Monday no construction project could go ahead without an environmental impact analysis.

The Jakarta administration needs to take the issue seriously, he said, as hopes for a greener city were pinned on the monorail.
"The developer must have studied the affected areas, the economic aspects and the social aspects, before embarking on its construction, but the city administration allowed the project to go ahead without an analysis, which was a violation of the law," he said.

Although in its infancy -- only a section on Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta is underway -- the monorail project is causing traffic jams due to construction work and a deafening noise due to the operation of heavy machinery.
Bylaw No. 27/1999 stipulates the administration can only issue a building permit after receiving the results of an environmental impact analysis.
Jakarta Environmental Agency (BPLHD) head Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said his office had completed its assessment of the environmental impact of the monorail project but had not issued the results.

He said the agency did not have the authority to take action against the developers
"We only have the right to issue the analysis and cannot intervene in the issuance of a building permit," he said.
Kosasih said a construction project could commence without the analysis.
"The foundation for the monorail and its main pillars have been put in place as the developer has a permit to do so. It doesn't matter. We will make the results of the analysis known within the week," he said.

Slamet challenged Kosasih's statement.
"The administration has the right to revoke a building permit if such concerns have not been dealt with. The regulation also applies to the monorail project. I don't see the difference," he said.
He said the problem had been brought up several times with the environmental agency but no solution was offered.

Deputy speaker of City Council Commission D for public works Mukhayar said the analysis was crucial.
"The analysis must be completed before the main pillars are established on Jl. Rasuna Said," he said.

The monorail, which is being touted as a natural fit for the city, will consist of two lines.
The first, called the Green Line, will link the business districts of Kuningan and Sudirman in South Jakarta, while the second, the Blue Line, will serve a less lucrative corridor from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to the Taman Anggrek shopping center in West Jakarta.

Quo vadis, Jakarta monorail?

2005-09-24T22:13:00.000+07:00

Quo vadis, Jakarta monorail?
Saturday, September 24, 2005 - Jakarta Post

While Jakarta traffic grows more chaotic day by day, and the administration is seemingly unable to remedy the situation, the construction of the city's first monorail, which is expected to help ease congestion, has been at a virtual standstill since its work started in June 2004.

The absence of adequate information from the administration as to why the project has stopped and what has really happened has provoked understandable public speculation.
Motorists passing along Jl. Asia-Afrika -- the Senayan Stadium area -- are puzzled when seeing a number of unfinished reinforced pillars along the median strip, which stand out like white elephants.

These stumps are the work of PT Jakarta Monorail, a joint venture between PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) with 55 percent, and the Omnico Group of Singapore, which is authorized to build and manage the monorail project under a 30-year concession from the Jakarta municipal administration.

Omnico replaced a Malaysian company, MTrans Holding Sdn Bhd,. with which ITC had signed an MoU in Kuching in August, 2003, at a ceremony witnessed by then Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad and then president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The project seemed to get off to a good start in mid-June last year, a month after the awarding of the concession by Governor Sutiyoso to Jakarta Monorail. Foundations were driven into Jl. Asia Africa and with great fanfare as Megawati again stood by. However, the work stopped altogether only after a few weeks.

Omnico later said the MoU between ITC and the Indonesian Consortium was signed without its approval.

The US$600 million project then changed hands again in July when ITC, the Indonesian partner of Jakarta Monorail, suddenly signed a MoU with an Indonesian consortium led by PT Bukaka Teknik Utama (partly owned by Vice President Jusuf Kalla), with the support of state-owned PT INKA, the Bandung-based PT LEN electronics industry and PT Siemens Indonesia.

The oft changes in the partners have undoubtedly led to allegations that certain parties with strong vested interests and powerful political backing had jumped on the project.

Before the MoU between ITC and Bukaka was signed, the Jakarta administration had approved Jakarta Monorail's decision to use South Korean technology, a form of magnetic levitation or "mag-lev", which was developed by Rotem. Rotem is part of the Omnico consortium that also includes Singapore's Mass Rapid Transport Pte. Ltd. and Singapore Technologies Engineering Pte. Ltd.

The dispute between Jakarta Monorail shareholders escalated after the Indonesian partner (ITC) and its Konsortium Indonesia, apparently with the suppport of the Jakarta administration, decided last month to use Siemens' "straddle" or "buggy" technology, which they claim is much cheaper than the high-tech mag-lev system.

While the shareholders of Jakarta Monorail, the holder of the concession, are embroiled in a dispute, it is the public that is the real loser, as the project will certainly fall behind schedule. One has to wonder why the Jakarta administration allowed the tug-of-war between the business partners to drag on this long.

If the main concern is technology, the administration must see to it that Jakarta Monorail chooses the most reliable test-proven system. In such a case, funding would probably become the second priority as better technology generally means a safer system.

If the real concern is jobs for local companies, however, it would be a big risk to award such a modern transportation system to contractors without any experience and track record because what would be at stake is public safety.

Many people, who are fed up with traffic gridlock, believe that monorail system would be compatible to the existing busway as an alternative to a full MRT and they want this new mode of transportation be completed on schedule in 2007.

Governor Sutiyono has repeatedly said that he would stake his reputation on the scheduled completion of the monorail project.

The city administration, therefore, should intervene into resolving the dispute between the Jakarta Monorail shareholders in order to speed up the project's implementation.

Otherwise foreign investors will lose whatever little confidence they have left investing in Indonesia's infrastructure development.

Monorail project not viable

2005-05-20T07:39:00.000+07:00

Monorail project not viable now: Activists
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the expiry date of the contract between the city administration and PT Jakarta Monorail draws near without agreement, transportation activists are calling for an end to the agreement, arguing the project is simply not feasible.
Activists from the Indonesia Transportation Society (MTI), the New York-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and non-governmental organization Pelangi said earlier this week that the project would only force the taxpayers to shoulder the costly endeavor through expensive subsidies.

"The administration should make an evaluation of the contract and look deeper into the possibility of calling off the deal before it gets more difficult for the administration to withdraw from the deal," MTI chairman Bambang Susantono told The Jakarta Post.

Walter Hook of the ITDP concurred with Bambang, saying that the monorail project was not viable.
"I believe that the monorail will serve few people very well and not the majority. But most people will pay for it," Hook said.
Hook said his NGO carried out a survey of 120,000 passengers using public transport along the planned monorail routes and discovered that the demand for the monorail service very low.

ITDP estimated that the monorail's blue line would serve 25,000 passengers daily, while the green line only 7,000 riders, much lower than the 77,562 and 38,650 passengers projected earlier by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on the Study of Integrated Transportation Master Plan for the Greater Jakarta (SITRAMP).

"The reason why the demand is very low is because the monorail has poor connections with the rest of the public transportation (services) and its fare of Rp 5,000 a single trip is much higher than the bus fares," Hook said.

PT Jakarta Monorail, handpicked to develop the monorail, has requested the city administration help subsidize the monorail project to maintain the fares at an affordable price of Rp 5,000.
It also asked the administration to impose electronic road pricing along the monorail's routes to force motorists to switch from their private cars to monorail cars.

Hook said that he would prefer the busway to the monorail owing to wide difference in the investment costs.
"The construction of one kilometer of busway corridor costs around US$1 million, while the monorail spends at least $58 million per kilometer." Jakarta could develop entire busway routes across the city with the same amount of money earmarked for the monorail project, he said.

Pelangi policy analyst Andi Rahmah, who is also a member of the Jakarta Transportation Council, said the busway outweighed the monorail in terms of sustainability.
"The investment as well as maintenance costs of the busway are much less than the monorail. We don't even need to subsidize the project since the operation of the busway will be able to cover maintenance costs, and even make profits," she said.

The fate of the 28-kilometer monorail project remains unclear, although the concession contract between the administration and its private partner, PT Jakarta Monorail, will expire on May 31. The agreement was signed on May 31, 2004. Under the agreement, signed by Governor Sutiyoso and JM president director Ruslan Diwiryo, the company is required to complete a financial close within a year, which could be extended for another six months. Beyond that, the two parties may have to sign another agreement.

Sutiyoso said that he would extend the contract to give more time for the company to close a deal with potential financiers.

Tidak ada pembebasan lahan

2005-05-15T06:40:00.000+07:00

Tidak Ada Pembebasan Lahan Untuk Monorel
Jum'at, 14 Mei 2004 | 18:53 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso berjanji tidak akan ada pembebasan lahan dalam proyek monorel. Proyek ini siap dibangun pada akhir bulan Mei.

Sutiyoso mengatakan, monorel tidak memakan banyak lahan. Alasannya, monorel bisa memanfaatkan jalan raya untuk jalur rel. Kalaupun ada, pembebasan lahan hanya dilakukan untuk membangun stasiun kereta layang rel tunggal ini. "Karena itu, proyek ini tidak akan membebaskan banyak lahan," kata Sutiyoso, saat penandatangan proyek monorel di Balai Kota, Jumat (14/5).

Sutiyoso yakin, monorel bisa memecahkan krisis transportasi yang dialami Jakarta. Nantinya, monorel akan menjadi bagian dari rencana transportasi terpadu dengan busway, subway dan transportasi air yang sekarang digarap Pemda DKI. Lagipula, kata Sutiyoso, monorel mempunyai daya angkut besar. "Monorel juga tidak polusif, karena menggunakan listrik," kata dia.

Sutiyoso berharap, proyek bernilai sekitar US$ 600 juta dolar ini bisa menarik kembali investasi asing ke Indonesia. Kebetulan, investor dari Singapura, Malaysia dan Jepang bergabung untuk menggarap proyek ini. "Saya berharap, para investor tidak lagi khawatir menanam investasi ke Indonesia," kata Sutiyoso.

Direktur Utama Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) —selaku pengembang dalam negeri— Ruslan Dwiwiryo mengatakan, peletakan batu pertama proyek ini akan dilakukan pada akhir bulan Mei ini. "Stasiun pertama yang akan dibangun di Casablanca," kata Ruslan. Selanjutnya, monorel akan selesai pada tahun 2006.

Konstruksi green line akan selesai pada Desember 2006, sedangkan konstruksi blue line diperkirakan selesai pada Juli 2007.

Direktur ITC Sukmawaty Syukur mengatakan, monorel Jakarta akan menggunakan model elevated structure. "Model ini menggunakan konstruksi layang yang tidak butuh banyak lahan," kata Sukmawaty.

Menurut dia, monorel Jakarta, yang mengambil teknologi dari Hitachi Jepang ini, bisa mengangkut penumpang 10-30 ribu per jam setiap arah. Rangkaian gerbong yang terdiri dari empat kereta, bisa menampung sekitar 700 penumpang tiap kereta.

Pada tahun pertama, monorel Jakarta diperkirakan bisa melayani 150 ribu penumpang untuk jalur blue line, dan 120 ribu penumpang untuk jalur green line. Rencananya, tarif monorel akan berkisar antara Rp 3500-7500, tergantung jarak stasiun yang ditempuh.

Nantinya, stasiun monorel akan dikembangkan menjadi pusat bisnis dan hunian. "Kita kan tidak bisa mengharapkan tiket untuk membayar utang," kata dia. Dalam konsepnya mendatang, stasiun monorel akan digabungkan dengan kondominium atau pusat belanja. "Tapi ini baru sebatas konsep," ujar dia.

Sukmawaty mengatakan, proyek monorel akan memakan biaya US$ 630 juta. Sebanyak US$ 480 juta diantaranya berupa pinjaman lunak. Sebesar US$ 360 juta dari pinjaman ini datang dari bank luar negeri. Sisanya, sebesar US$ 120 juta berupa pinjaman rupiah. [Multazam – Tempo News Room]

Sulitnya Pencairan Dana

2005-03-25T07:14:00.000+07:00

Hambatan Proyek Monorel Sulitnya Pencairan Dana
Tempo interaktif - 24 Maret 2005

Lembaga keuangan seperti bank umumnya menunutut adanya jaminan Pemerintah DKI terhadap proyek tersebut.

Proyek Monorel Jakarta.

Saya mengerti betapa besar biaya yang dibutuhkan untuk PROYEK UTAMA ini.

Besar sekali, tetapi proyek ini benar merupakan kebutuhan UTAMA bagi kota metropolitan Jakarta Raya. Bagaimanapun juga, Kota Jakarta harus mempunyai pengangkutan umum yang modern, untuk mengatasi kemacetan lalu lintas sehari-hari.

Jadi proyek MONORAIL (diatas tanah) atau SUBWAY (dibawah tanah) harus berjalan. Tanpa itu dalam waktu yang kurang dari 10 tahun yang akan datang, kota Jakarta akan benar2 menjadi kota AWUT2-AN....sekarang masih boleh dikata...padat dan macet.

Lalu permodalannya dari mana dan bagaimana ?
Kepercayaan dari kaum modal asing yang masih ragu2 untuk turut serta menanam modalnya diproyek ini, saya juga mengerti dengan alasan2 mereka.

Suasana politik kita masih belum setabil, masih goyah.
Sebentar2 selalu ada demonstrasi, yang di-ikuti dengan amuk2an dan pembakaran.
Korupsi, uang suap dll masik dipraktekan di sana sini.

Seperti temen sekolah saya (jaman dulu di Bandung) yang kini jadi Menteri Bung Ical Bakrie, yang belum lama ini telah mengatakan bahwa kita sangat perlu untuk mendapatkan kepercayaan Internasional akan kesetabilan Politic dan Ekonomi Indonesia.
Tanpa itu kita tidak akan mendapat kaum modal asing untuk menanamkan modal bagi usaha2 atau proyek2 di Indonesia. Jaman dahulu agak mudah pinjam modal asing, karena dimasa itu kita memakai sistem G to G (goverment to goverment) yang sarat2nya jauh lebih mudah. Kini kita berhadapan dengan usaha swasta (private company) asing, yang kebanyakan merupakan P.T atau corporation yang pemegang2 sahamnya adalah masyaeakat umum
(public). Kalau suasana politik ekonomi nya goncang, dengan segera para pemegang saham itu akan menarik diri dengan menjual saham2 mereka.

Nah kini Sukmawati, Ical Bakrie dan pejabat2 dari departement2 lainnya, harus menggiatkan kampanye besar2an untuk mendapatkan modal asing untuk turut serta dalam PROYEK UTAMA ini.

Jangan lupa biaya pemeliharaan (maintenant) ptoyek ini, pada jangka lamanya juga sangat besar sekali.
Yah selamat berkerja dan semoga berhasil.

Sugeng P Rahardjo.
New York City.
U.S.A
Sungeng P Rahardjo.(new_york_deejay@yahoo.com) - New York City, U.S.A

Public interest at stake

2005-03-21T07:43:00.000+07:00

Public interest at stake in monorail project: Experts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Transportation Council (DTK) and city councillors warned over the weekend that they were unwilling to risk public money in the ambitious monorail project worth $650 million.
"I am afraid that giving (developer PT Jakarta Monorail) a form of a subsidy or loan will further entrap the Jakarta administration in what is a flawed contract so that it has to shoulder the burden of the project in the future. Worse still, the interests of Jakarta residents as taxpayers will be at serious risk for at least 30 years to come as stated in contract's term," DTK chairman Sutanto Soehodho told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"We have to stop this (contract) from getting worse. It has gone wrong and we cannot let the residents bear the administration's mistakes in the project," Sayogo Hendrosubroto, head of the City Council's commission D on development affairs and transportation told The Post.

Both Sutanto and Sayogo were asked to comment on the progress in the monorail project. Earlier Sutiyoso's Jakarta administration indicated it would approve a tranport subsidy for the monorail project as requested by consortium PT Jakarta Monorail (JM) to allow it to maintain its fares at an affordable level.

The consortium had asked for an annual subsidy of up to $20 million for up to eight years. The administration has tried to lower the cost of the subsidy by requesting the consortium switch to cheaper monorail technology from South Korea or the People's Republic of China instead of the more expensive Hitachi technology, which it says is pushing up the project's value.

Sutanto, who is also a transportation expert at the University of Indonesia, suspected an increase in the predicted project cost initially proposed by the consortium.
"The consortium has been playing around with changes it incessantly offers to the administration, like an equity-sharing scheme, an electronic road pricing scheme and now a tariff subsidy. I am afraid that the consortium doesn't really have the money it boasted earlier of having and therefore continues to go to the administration to ask it to help finance the project," he said.

He referred to other requests made earlier by the company to the administration to put $60 million equity into the project and to apply a road pricing traffic policy along the monorail routes, which would increase the cost of transport in parts of the city and ensure a high level of customers would use the cheaper system.
Sutanto called on the administration to immediately terminate the contract and open a tender to look for serious bidders who really had the cash to make the project happen.

PT Jakarta Monorail, which is owned by PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) and Omnico Singapore, Pte. Ltd, has been appointed to build two monorail lines totaling 27.8 kilometers in the capital.

Meanwhile, Sayogo said that the commission D would seek clarification from the consortium over the significant changes it made to the project recently.
"We have already put a time to meet with the consortium in our schedule this week," he said.

The consortium has repeatedly insisted it faces no financial difficulties in pursuing the project and said it was close to finalizing the deal.
Playing down all lingering obstacles, it says stage one of the project could still be operational by the end of next year.

However, so far there has been little progress made since the initial groundbreaking ceremony on Jl. Asia-Afrika, Central Jakarta in mid-June last year, which was officiated by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Right to public transportation

2005-03-15T22:45:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - The Jakarta Post

Teguh Utomo Atmoko, Jakarta

Yes, it's high time that Jakarta had a decent public transportation system. However, learning from other large world metropolises, does Jakarta really need subways and monorails? Many mass rapid transit systems in many big world cities struggle to meet minimum required riderships -- the number of people who utilize a public transportation system -- therefore the public is forced to foot the bill through subsidies. Even with the Jakarta monorail project, there are already indications that the public purse have to bear the burden before the system is operational.

Good public transportation systems should provide safe, cheap and efficient means for city populations to move about, both the haves and the have-nots. However, due to the present physical condition of Jakarta, which is too spread out, only several options are available.

Mass transit systems just require adequate riderships to be financially feasible. Subways and monorails, on the other hand, require substantial ridership to be financially feasible.

Unlike Hong Kong and Singapore where the populations that use the subways are concentrated around stations, the middle and upper strata of Jakarta's population -- the targeted users of subways and monorails -- live in relatively vast, low-density areas in the South, West and East of Jakarta.

Therefore, it will be very difficult to secure enough ridership for any kind of transportation system in a city like Jakarta, much less subways and monorails.

Feeder systems that theoretically increase the catchment area of mass rapid transit systems in many cases turn into financial disasters. In Jakarta, this will happen due to a lack of coordination between feeder operators, as well as the impracticality of transits and transfers in the Jakarta environment.

At present, the only feasible transportation mode is probably busways. When the physical condition of the city has changed such that populations and businesses are concentrated in particular areas that can be easily be connected to each other by either subway or monorail, then it will be time for Jakarta to utilize these particular systems.

To achieve this condition, there must be strong political commitment from the government, the private sector and the general public. Only they together have the ability to determine the city's future physical shape.

The existing rail network in Greater Jakarta is still underutilized, partly because there are far too many railway crossings. However, the network plies areas that have potential to be developed as catchment areas for a mass transit system.

For a reasonable cost, the existing rail network and busway system could be expanded. The enormous capital required for new mass rapid transit systems, such as subways and monorails, would be far better spent improving the city's environment, for example, by buying up land along the city's rivers and converting it into public green space.

Just because Jakarta is a huge metropolitan city with a population of eight million -- not including the four million commuters who come in the Jakarta every day from areas outside the city -- does not necessarily mean that the city must have a subway or monorail.

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Engineering School, University of Indonesia. He can be reached at tiua@eng.ui.ac.id

Menunggu hasil audit

2005-03-08T07:33:00.000+07:00

Monorel di Simpang Jalan
Senin, 07 Maret 2005 | 10:33 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - Pemerintah DKI Jakarta belum menentukan sikap atas permintaan subsidi tiket dari PT Jakarta Monorail, calon operator monorel Jakarta. Pemerintah DKI masih menunggu hasil audit proyek ini hingga akhir Maret nanti. Pemerintah DKI malah memberi isyarat kepada investor lain untuk masuk.

Sekretaris Daerah Provinsi DKI Jakarta Ritola Tasmaya mengatakan, hasil audit ini penting untuk menakar besaran subsidi yang akan diberikan pemerintah. Selain itu, hasil audit ini berguna untuk memperkirakan persentase penyertaan modal pemerintah dalam proyek. "Tapi, pada prinsipnya, sarana layanan publik berhak mendapat subsidi pemerintah," katanya akhir pekan lalu.

Menurut Ritola, audit proyek monorel ini dilakukan oleh auditor keuangan internasional Franklin & Andrews. Audit ini, menurut dia, dilakukan atas permintaan Jakarta Monorail. "Jakarta Monorail berjanji menyerahkan hasil audit pada akhir Maret nanti," ujarnya.

Ritola mengatakan, subsidi pemerintah untuk sarana transportasi umum merupakan hal wajar. Hal ini, kata dia, berlaku di kota besar dunia yang punya sarana transportasi umum, seperti Singapura dan Tokyo. Di kota-kota ini tersedia sarana semacam monorel dan subway (kereta bawah tanah) yang mendapat subsidi dari pemerintah.

Di Jakarta, kata Ritola, pemerintah DKI sudah memberikan total subsidi Rp 2,5 triliun untuk bus Transjakarta (busway). Subsidi ini diberikan untuk mendukung pengembangan 15 koridor busway yang digarap pemerintah DKI. Saat ini sudah tersedia bus Transjakarta jurusan Blok M-Kota. Pemerintah DKI juga sedang menggarap jalur Pulogadung-Monas dan Monas-Kalideres. Selanjutnya, 12 koridor lain akan menyusul kemudian hingga tahun 2010.

Namun, Ritola tidak menjelaskan asal dana subsidi untuk proyek monorel. Dia juga tidak menjelaskan sikap pemerintah DKI mengenai tawaran sumber subsidi berupa penerapan electronic road pricing (ERP), sistem pembayaran elektronik bagi kendaraan bermotor, oleh Jakarta Monorail. Hanya, menurut dia, ERP cuma bisa digunakan di jalan yang sudah punya sarana transportasi mapan, seperti busway atau monorel.

Menurut Ritola, ERP bisa menyumbangkan pendapatan sebesar Rp 100 miliar per tahun. Sementara itu, menurut perhitungan Direktur Umum Jakarta Monorail Ruslan Diwiryo, ERP bisa menghasilkan dana US$ 100 juta per tahun. Sebagai perbandingan, Jakarta Monorail meminta subsidi tiket sebesar US$ 20 juta (sekitar Rp 185 miliar) per tahun selama tujuh tahun. "Yang jelas, ERP itu program pemerintah, bukan untuk proyek," kata Ritola.

Pada awalnya, Jakarta Monorail sanggup menanggung proyek monorel tanpa penyertaan modal pemerintah. Belakangan, mereka kesulitan mencari investor asing karena pemerintah tidak terlibat dalam proyek ini. Akhirnya, mereka menawari pemerintah DKI agar menyertakan modal dalam proyek ini. Besarnya sekitar 30 persen dari modal sebesar US$ 200 juta, dari nilai proyek keseluruhan sebesar US$ 670 juta.

Menurut Ritola, meskipun sudah ada Jakarta Monorail yang menggarap monorel, pihaknya masih membuka kesempatan bagi investor lain untuk menggarap monorel. "Asal punya dana 30 persen dari ekuitas (posisi modal) sudah hebat, kok," katanya.

Seperti ditulis Koran Tempo, Jumat (4/3), selain menawarkan penyertaan modal sebesar 30 persen, Jakarta Monorail meminta pemerintah DKI Jakarta memberikan subsidi tarif monorel sebesar US$ 20 juta per tahun selama tujuh tahun. Agar tidak memberatkan anggaran daerah, Jakarta Monorail meminta penerapan sistem ERP sebagai sumber subsidi.

Ruslan Diwiryo mengatakan, subsidi tarif dilakukan untuk menekan tarif ekonomis sebesar Rp 12.500 menjadi Rp 5.500. "Ini bukan subsidi korporasi, tapi subsidi tarif," kata Ruslan kemarin.

Tapi Wakil Gubernur DKI Jakarta Fauzi Bowo keberatan dengan tawaran Jakarta Monorail ini. Menurut dia, tawaran ini membebani anggaran daerah. "Kalau semua minta subsidi, saya (pemerintah DKI) bisa bangun (monorel) sendiri," kata Fauzi.

Fauzi juga keberatan jika ERP digunakan sebagai syarat perencanaan proyek monorel ini. "ERP adalah kebijakan transportasi masa depan pemerintah DKI, bukan kebijakan untuk proyek," katanya. [Multazam]

Bank Lippo berminat

2005-02-23T07:17:00.000+07:00

Sutiyoso: Bank Lippo Berminat Danai Monorail
Selasa, 22 Pebruari 2005 | 14:37 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso menyatakan Bank Lippo tertarik untuk mendanai proyek monorail. Pemerintah daerah akan menindaklanjuti keinginan investor tersebut. “Harus ditindaklanjuti, “ kata Sutiyoso di Balai Kota, Selasa (22/2).

Dia menambahkan, pembagian dana antara investor dalam negeri dan pemerintah daerah dapat meningkatkan kepercayaan investor asing. Pemerintah DKI, kata Sutiyoso, akan ikut serta sesuai dengan kemampuan Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Daerah (APBD) melalui Jakarta Propertindo.

Dari pembagian itu, Sutiyoso mengharapkan dapat mencapai target 30 persen total dana sebesar US$ 650 juta. Dia menambahkan, investor asing berasal dari konsorsium di beberapa negara, seperti Hong Kong, Singapura, Malaysia, dan Jepang.

Mengenai dana dari Pemerintah DKI, Sutiyoso mengatakan, akan diajukan di APBD 2006 atau masuk anggaran biaya tambahan. Dia juga membantah anggapan bahwa permintaan pembagian dana menunjukkan konsorsium tidak memiliki dana. “Mudah-mudahan itu tidak benar,” ungkapnya. [Eworasw]

DKI tidak menghambat

2004-12-11T07:20:00.000+07:00

Pemprov DKI Bantah Hambat Pembangunan Monorail
Jum'at, 10 Desember 2004 | 19:03 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - Pemerintah Provinsi (Pemprov) DKI Jakarta membantah jika terhambatnya pembangunan monorail akibat dana yang belum cair adalah karena Surat Keputusan (SK) Peruntukan Lahan oleh Gubernur, belum turun.

Menurut Wakil Gubernur DKI Jakarta, Fauzi Bowo, saat ini langkah yang telah diambil Gubernur DKI Jakarta sudah tepat. "Kalau sudah ada MOU itu seharusnya sudah cukup. Kan MOU pak gubernur yang tandatangan bukan sekedar staf DKI. Kami bukan bermaksud menghambat," kata Fauzi di Balaikota Jakarta, Jumat (12/10).

Fauzi menyatakan, beberapa lahan yang akan digunakan untuk pembangunan monorail tersebut terdapat beberapa lahan yang bukan milik publik. Sehingga pihaknya harus berkoordinasi dengan pihak kantor Permukiman dan Prasrana Wilayah. "Contohnya lahan yang dipakai untuk depo di Tanah Abang, lahan yang ada di pinggir kali," kata Fauzi. "Jadi semua itu perlu waktu, kan ada MOU nya," tambahnya

Seperti diketahui, PT. Jakarta Monorail menyatakan, terhambatnya pembangunan monorail disebabkan belum cairnya dana. Menurut mereka terhambatnya pencairan dana monorail disebabkan belum ada SK Peruntukan Lahan dari gubernur DKI Jakarta. [Suryani Ika Sari]

Sutiyoso's challenge

2004-10-16T22:46:00.000+07:00

Saturday, October 16, 2004 - The Jakarta Post

How fares Jakarta's monorail system? A good question to ponder, but not an easy one to answer. No, indeed. Not even Jakarta's city fathers seem to have an answer that would satisfy the city's residents who have for years been yearning for a safe, comfortable and yet affordable public transportation system to go to work, or school, or to any of the steadily proliferating shopping malls, as the case may be.

For that matter, how fares the planned extension of the busway system now that the existing Blok M-Kota route has passed the acid test of public acceptance? It has been a long time since any news has been heard about this new extension that is supposed to run from the eastern part of the city to the west -- complementing the current north-south route. For weeks now, the foundations of the first concrete piles that were driven into the ground with so much pomp and ceremony a while ago, are standing deserted along Jl. Asia-Afrika in Senayan.

It seems that over the past several decades, the capital city has not managed to grow out of its classic problems, which stem from the inescapable pressures of overpopulation. It seems that the same problems that troubled governor Ali Sadikin in the late 1960s and early 1970s are still present under the city's current governor, Sutiyoso -- but have increased in scope and intensity.

Of course, Jakarta today is not the Jakarta of the 1970s, and Governor Sutiyoso is not Ali Sadikin. Still, a comparison between the two does not seem unfair since both have faced the same challenges and both have been dogged by the same, or similar, controversies.

To be sure, Jakarta has never been free of problems. Even in the 18th century, when it was a small walled Dutch colonial settlement named Batavia, the city was prone to regular floods and diseases -- which was the reason for its growth toward the healthier south, leading to the establishment of the elite residential areas of Menteng and Kebayoran Baru. Bad luck that Jakarta's big city allure, its apparent wealth and relatively high living standards, have worked like a magnet for the city, drawing people from elsewhere in the country toward it. The influx of huge numbers of migrants is Jakarta's most serious problem.

In the 1970s, governor Ali Sadikin sought to stem the tide by declaring the city closed to new settlers. The policy failed, not so much because of a lack of determination on the part of Ali Sadikin, but because of a lack of cooperation from governors and administrators in areas and provinces outside Jakarta. After all, how could he prevent citizens coming from other parts of the country from trying to improve their welfare in the nation's capital?

But if declaring Jakarta a closed city is not possible, what then can be done to prevent the quality of life from sliding further downhill? Simplistic as it may sound, a good part of the answer lies in better management of the city's traffic. Only a few years or even months ago, traffic along several of Jakarta's main streets and thoroughfares was still manageable, at least on certain hours or days.

At present, the same cannot be said of the city's traffic. Huge traffic jams clogging the city's toll roads are a daily sight during the morning and evening hours. Not only are office and other workers inconvenienced, the economic costs involved are huge. Many experts agree with Governor Sutiyoso that unless the rate of increase in the number of cars and other vehicles is stopped or lowered, it will not take long before the Indonesian capital city truly becomes unlivable -- which it already is, in the opinion of many.

In all this, however, the big question is, what are the chances that Governor Sutiyoso can solve this problem? Admittedly, this is a question that is hard to answer, not only for the public at large, but even for the governor and the city officials around him. However, if he can achieve this feat, he will no doubt go down in history as one of Jakarta's most effective governors -- as effective, perhaps, as his forerunner, Ali Sadikin.

Proyek Monorail diresmikan

2004-06-15T06:24:00.000+07:00

Mega Resmikan Pembukaan Proyek Monorail
Senin, 14 Juni 2004 | 13:51 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - Mega Resmikan Pembukaan Proyek Monorail

Presiden Megawati didampingi Taufik Kiemas, Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso, dan Menteri Perhubungan ad interim Soenarno, meresmikan pembukaan proyek monorail Jakarta, Senin (14/6). Selain mereka, juga hadir sejumlah pengusaha dan artis.

Menurut rencana, akan dibangun dua jalur monorail yang melintasi jalur utama Jakarta, yaitu jalur hijau dan jalur biru. [Sapto Pradityo – Tempo News Room]

Pembangunan akan diresmikan

2004-06-14T06:27:00.000+07:00

Senin, Megawati Resmikan Pembangunan Monorel
Minggu, 13 Juni 2004 | 16:34 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - Presiden Megawati Soekarnoputri dijadwalkan akan meresmikan pembangunan tiang pancang monorel, besok Senin (15/6). “Peresmian secara simbolis dengan menekan tombol," kata Muhayat, Kepala Humas dan Keprotokolan Pemda DKI Jakarta, Minggu(13/6) di kawasan Senayan.

Di tempat peresmian Jl. Asia Afrika, minggu siang, tampak beberapa pekerja sedang bersiap-siap. Tenda besar untuk tempat acara telah berpendingin udara. Karpet merah pun sudah digelar.

Sementara satu tiang pancang atau paku bumi telah tertancap di median jalan. Rencananya pembangunan tiang pancang ini akan segera berjalan begitu tombol peresmian berbunyi. "Namun hanya sesaat, setelah itu berhenti dulu untuk melanjutkan acara, karena suaranya bising," ujar Muhayat. Tiang pancang yang digunakan sepanjang 6 meter.

Peresmian pembangunan proyek monorel ini juga akan dihadiri oleh beberapa menteri terkait dan tamu lainnya. Beberapa menteri yang diundang adalah Menteri Pemukiman dan Prasarana Wilayah, Soenarno, sekaligus bertindak menjabat sebagai Menteri ad interm Perhubungan, Menteri Perindustrian dan Perdagangan, Menteri Keuangan, Bapenas. "Namun belum pasti bisa hadir semua," kata Muhayat.

Muhayat menambahkan undangan yang akan hadir sekitar 400 orang. Oleh karena itu Jl. Asia Afrika sebagai tempat peresmian sebaiknya dihindari oleh para pengemudi saat berlangsungnya acara.

Direncanakan, ketinggian bangunan penopang monorel sekitar 5,5 meter dari permukaan tanah. "Untuk satu tiang pilar, membutuhkan 9 tiang pancang," kata Chusnul Jaqin, Manajer PT Adhi Karya, pelaksana pembangunan proyek ini. Chusnul menjelaskan, untuk satu tiang pilar penyangga dapat dikerjakan dalam 9 hari. Jarak antar pilar sekitar 30 meter, diatasnya akan memuat dua buah rel.

Teknis pengerjaannya, menurut Chusnul, dilakukan secara bertahap. “Pembuatan tiang pilar penyangga ini harus dikerjakan satu persatu," ujarnya. Untuk menghubungkan antar pilar akan digunakan beton cor juga. Rencananya proyek ini akan selesai dalam jangka waktu 2 tahun."Pokoknya kita akan kebut untuk selesai tahun 2006," kata Sukmawaty Syukur, Juru Bicara Jakarta Monorail, beberapa waktu yang lalu.

Jakarta Monorail akan membangun dua jalur sekaligus. Satu jalur, yang disebut dengan blue line, akan membentang dari Roxy sampai Kampung Melayu. Jalur ini mempunyai 13 stasiun. Satu jalur lagi, disebut green line. Jalur yang mempunyai 17 stasiun ini berawal dari Jl. Rasuna Said, melewati Casablanca, kawasan Kuningan, Jl. Sudirman, kawasan Senayan kembali menuju Rasuna Said.

Proyek ini ditangani oleh dua konsorsium yang tergabung dalam Jakarta Monorail, yaitu konsorsium ITC dan konsorsium Asean Incorporated. Proyek ini akan menelan investasi sebesar USD 600 juta. [Sutarto – Tempo News Room]

Adhi Karya optimis

2004-06-12T06:30:00.000+07:00

Adhi Karya Optimis Menang Tender Monorel
Jum'at, 11 Juni 2004 | 19:28 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif - PT Adhi Karya optimis memenangkan tender megaproyek monorel dengan nilai kontrak yang dapat diambil sebesar US$ 230 juta. Monorel diharapkan selesai semua pada akhir tahun 2007. Hal itu disampaikan Direktur Utama PT Adhi Karya Saiful Imam di Jakarta, Jumat (11/6).

Monorel yang akan dibangun dibuat dua jalur, yaitu blue line yang membentang dari Roxy sampai Kampung Melayu dan green line yang memutari kawasan pusat Jakarta, berawal dari Jalan Rasuna Said, melewati Casablanca, kawasan Kuningan, Jalan Sudirman, kawasan Senayan dan kembali ke Rasuna Said.

Rencananya, proyek senilai US$ 600 juta ini siap dibangun Juni mendatang, bertepatan dengan HUT DKI Jakarta ke 477. “Kegiatan akan dilakukan cepat selama 2,5 tahun,” kata Saiful. Jalur green line direncanakan selesai akhir tahun 2006, sedangkan jalur blue line selesai enam bulan berikutnya.

Pemancangan tiang pertama monorel ini menurut rencana akan dilakukan Presiden Megawati Soekarnoputri Senin (12/6). Proyek ini diperkirakan akan menelan biaya US$ 630 juta. Gubernur DKI Sutiyoso ingin pemancangan tiang monorel ini menjadi salah satu kegiatan HUT DKI Jakarta ke-477. [Agriceli - Tempo News Room]

Rencana Monorel

2004-04-03T07:05:00.000+07:00

Rencana Monorel Jakarta
Jum'at, 02 April 2004 | 15:11 WIB

Tempo interaktif - Bila tak ada aral melintang, pada 2006 Jakarta sudah akan memiliki sistem angkutan umum monorel. Monorel itu dicita-citakan bakal mengurangi kemacetan jalan dan memberikan kenyamanan kepada warga Jakarta.

Adalah PT Indonesia Transit Central (ITC) yang memprakarsai dan ditunjuk untuk membangun kereta ringan berel tunggal itu. ITC merupakan konsorsium yang terdiri atas PT Adhi Karya, PT Global Profex Sinergy, dan PT Radiant Utama.

Menggandeng MTrans Holdings dari Malaysia sebagai mitra sekaligus investor, proposal ITC langsung menarik hati Gubernur DKI Jakarta Sutiyoso sebagai penentu kebijakan. Alhasil, pada 29 Agustus lalu nota kesepahaman antara ketiga pihak telah diteken di Kuching, Malaysia, disaksikan Presiden Megawati dan Perdana Menteri Mahathir Mohamad.

Saat ini ITC sedang berpacu untuk segera menyelesaikan studi kelayakan proyek tersebut. Riset meliputi aspek kelayakan teknis, finansial, legal dan perizinan, serta rentang tanggung jawab. Bila sudah selesai, hasilnya akan digodok lagi oleh Pemerintah DKI Jakarta bersama para pakar dan konsultan pembangunan, serta pakar hukum kontrak internasional. "Pembahasan tersebut sangat dibutuhkan agar isi perjanjian tidak merugikan kedua pihak," ujar Asisten Pembangunan Sekretaris Daerah DKI Jakarta, Irzal Djamal.

Direktur ITC Sukmawaty Syukur mengaku menggandeng MTrans karena takjub melihat teknologi kereta melayang yang mereka kembangkan di Malaysia. "Monorel di sana harganya murah dan minim penggunaan lahan," ujarnya. Sebagai perbandingan, ongkos bangun yang dipatok MTrans hanyalah US$ 20 juta per kilometer. Sedangkan Hitachi dari Jepang dan Bombardier dari Prancis memasang harga dua kali lipatnya, US$ 40 juta per kilometer.

Kelebihan lain, pembangunan monorel dengan teknologi Malaysia tak akan terlalu mengganggu lalu lintas karena semua infrastruktur dibangun di pabrik (prefabricates) dan kemudian tinggal dipasang. Teknik inilah yang membuat Gubernur Sutiyoso langsung jatuh hati.

Pada tahap awal, Monorel Jakarta akan dibangun di dua jalur. Line pertama terentang dari Kampung Melayu, Jakarta Timur, sampai Roxy, Jakarta Barat, sepanjang 12 kilometer. Di sini akan dibangun 11 stasiun pemberhentian.

Sedangkan lajur kedua didesain melingkar (loop), mulai dari Jalan Rasuna Said-Gatot Subroto-Sudirman Central Business District-Senayan-Pejompongan, kembali ke Rasuna Said, yang panjangnya juga diperkirakan 12 kilometer. Di rute ini akan didirikan 14 stasiun.

Jadi, panjang seluruh jalur mencapai 24 kilometer, dan total memerlukan investasi US$ 480 juta atau sekitar Rp 4 triliun dengan kurs saat ini (US$ 1 = Rp 8.300).

Pada tahap berikutnya, jalur baru akan dilebarkan dari Kampung Melayu ke Bekasi dan dari Roxy ke Tangerang. Soalnya, pengembangan yang ini memerlukan izin dari pemerintah pusat karena melibatkan daerah di luar Jakarta.

Di beberapa titik rencananya kelak akan dibangun stasiun pergantian moda transportasi bersama. Contohnya, stasiun Dukuh Atas diproyeksikan menjadi titik persilangan antara jalur kereta, monorel, dan busway.

Pokoknya, monorel dicita-citakan sebagai sistem transportasi alternatif yang cepat dan antimacet.

Sistem "kereta melayang" ini memang mampu melaju hingga kecepatan 90 kilometer per jam. Tapi, mengingat banyaknya stasiun yang harus disinggahi, kecepatan rata-ratanya kelak ditaksir cuma 40 kilometer per jam. Bila dilengkapi enam gerbong, sekali jalan monorel bisa menampung 35 ribu penumpang per jam.

Sukma mengaku 30 persen dari investasi akan ditanggung bersama oleh pihak investor, yaitu ITC dan MTrans. Sedangkan sisanya akan dipinjam dari bank. Kalau tak berhasil mengail kredit, MTrans telah menyanggupi menanggung seluruh investasi. Seluruh duit yang dikeluarkan itu diyakininya bisa kembali dalam waktu 10-15 tahun.

Perhitungannya begini. Untuk tiket jarak terjauh, akan dikenakan tarif Rp 7.000. Adapun jumlah penumpang diperkirakan mencapai 150 ribu orang per hari, dengan kenaikan 5 hingga 10 persen setiap tahun.

Untuk memastikan amannya modal yang ditanamkan, Sukma berharap pemerintah memberikan konsesi pengelolaan kepada ITC selama 40 tahun. "Itu sama dengan konsesi yang diberikan pemerintah Malaysia untuk monorail di sana," ujarnya.

Ia juga berharap penentuan tarif tak perlu distempel Dewan Perwakilan Daerah dulu. Untuk itu, Sukma mengaku sudah mendapat "garansi" dari Direktur Jenderal Perhubungan Darat, Iskandar Abubakar. "Pak Iskandar menjelaskan tarif angkutan non-ekonomi tak diatur oleh lembaga legislatif," ia menirukan. Meski mendapat keleluasaan, Sukma berjanji tak akan menggenjot tarif seenaknya.

Investasi per Daya Angkut/kilometer Penumpang | Modal dalam US$ per jam per arah
=================================================
Busway 5,4 juta 15.000-20.000
Monorial 20 juta 20.000-40.000
Kereta/Subway 80-250 juta 60.000-80.000
[Sumber: Majalah TEMPO]

New but not the aspirin

2003-11-21T07:59:00.000+07:00

Jakarta's planned monorail trains: New but not the aspirin
The Jakarta Post

In the original plan Jakarta monorail trains were intended to connect Jakarta and its outlying areas of Bekasi in the east and Tangerang in the west, but the dedicated scheme was altered because the Jakarta administration had to bow down to investors' wishes.
Urban analysts deplored the decision because construction of the monorails would not address properly transportation in the capital, one of many urban problems.

In the agreed plan the trains are to serve only the two busiest areas in the capital where offices and shopping centers are mostly to be found.
The investors, PT Indonesian Transit Central (ITC) and its Malaysian partner M. Trans Holdings, see the planned monorail as a lucrative business because the trains would attract large numbers of passengers, as the train stations would be integrated with other public transportation modes like buses and conventional trains.

Investors claimed the original scheme, which connected Jakarta with the outlying areas of Bekasi and Tangerang, was economically unfeasible.
Marco Kusumawijaya, a noted urban planner, said the city administration should not have totally accommodated the wishes of the investors because it had to look to the public interest too.
If there is still time, the administration must ask for investment in less crowded areas so that the monorail system can expand its coverage.

"It's a kind of cross-subsidy. Profits from lucrative businesses can be used to subsidize operational costs at less crowded areas. With such a mechanism, the monorail would serve more people," Marco told The Jakarta Post recently.

Construction is planned to start in January and is expected to be completed within three years. One of the lines is expected to be finished before Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso leaves office in 2007.
In the tender the investors injected some US$540 billion to construct the project. The total distance of the two lines is 27 kilometers.

The first line is the 14.8-kilometer circular line, named the "green line." It will serve the capital's golden triangle area of Kuningan, Sudirman and Senayan.
The "green line" will serve 16 stations. They are: Senayan Sports complex, Plaza Senayan, Jakarta Convention Center, Taman Ria Senayan, the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly building, Pejompongan, Karet, Sudirman, Setiabudi, Kuningan, Taman Rasuna, Casablanca, Gran Melia, Satria Mandala Museum, Jakarta Police Headquarters and the Jakarta Stock Exchange as the coverage area.
Second is the 12.2-kilometer "blue line" connecting Kampung Melayu in the eastern part of Jakarta and Roxy in the west.

This line will serve 13 stations: Kampung Melayu bus terminal, Tebet, Saharjo, Menteng Dalam, Casablanca, Ambassador, Dharmala Sakti, Menara Batavia, Karet, Kebon Kacang, Tanah Abang, Cideng and Roxy.
In Kampung Melayu, the monorail station will have an interchange with the crowded bus terminal. Monorail trains there will enjoy feeder services from large, medium and small-size buses connecting the area with various locations in the city.
At Tebet, the monorail will be integrated with a conventional railway station, with trains that run to Bogor and Kota.
At Sudirman or Duku Atas station, the monorail will be fed with passengers from the bus rapid transit (BRT) system and commuter trains coming from Serpong and Bekasi.

Nearly all the other monorail stations will be located in busy area of Jakarta.
The monorail and BRT, popularly known as the busway, are two projects that have been put to tender by Sutiyoso to overcome the chaotic traffic problems in the city. The projects are believed to be the answer to the increasing number of private cars that are blamed for the worsening traffic congestion.
The plan to construct a monorail system in the city was no less controversial than the previous BRT plan. City councillors and local activists gave a cold shoulder to the BRT plan as they questioned its effectiveness in addressing Jakarta's severe traffic congestion.

"How will middle-class people, who own private cars, be persuaded to use the busway if there is no reliable public transport from the area close to their homes?" asked chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) Aza Tigor Nainggolan.

Unlike the BRT the planned monorail received less criticism because the "footprint" of the monorail will not occupy existing roads. The rails will be elevated, but will the system really be aspirin for the city's traffic headache, for the trains will operate within a limited area. -- Bambang Nurbianto

Observers pessimistic

2003-08-13T07:56:00.000+07:00

Observers pessimistic on monorail project
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Urban observers have expressed pessimism on whether the planned monorail project will be able to address the city's chaotic transportation problems.
However, they did not propose a genuine solution to the problem, either, other than criticizing that the project was not well prepared and the city had no integrated transportation plan.

Marco Kusumawijaya, a city development strategy consultant, said that because the city had no comprehensive transportation concept of its own, the administration could only adopt major ideas offered by investors.
"How can it resolve transportation problems if it only adopts proposals from those with a vested financial interest?" Marco asked in a seminar to launch a book titled Jakarta Bukan untuk Orang Miskin (Jakarta Not For the Poor) prepared by a team from the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta).

The seminar also featured Fakta chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan, Muhamad Suhud of the International NGO Forum for Indonesia Development (INFID) and an editor from The Jakarta Post, Soeryo Winoto.

According to Marco, many new ideas from the administration, such as a bus rapid transit system, busway project, subway or water transportation, would not resolve the city's transportation problems as the ideas were not integrated, within a comprehensive plan.
"There is no integration between one transportation mode and the others. They are all planned separately," said Marco, who nominated himself as a candidate in the gubernatorial election last year.

Similar comments came from Jack Sumabrata of green organization, Pelangi, who said that it was not surprising if the city administration only bowed to the wishes of investors.
Jack considered that development of the monorail project was still uncertain as the route had not been studied thoroughly.
"Ideally, the monorail route should be based on a concept that has been studied comprehensively, while investors would simply build it," Jack told The Jakarta Post on a separate occasion.

The monorail is proposed to be developed by Indonesia Transit Central (ITC), a consortium that comprises a Malaysian firm, M Trans Holding and its local partners PT Adhi Karya, Global Profex Synergy and Radiant Utama.
The Malaysian firm will invest Rp 3.28 trillion (US$400 million) in the first stage of the project, including the construction of stations. It plans to charge passengers an average of Rp 12,000 per trip.

Initially, the project will link Bekasi in the east and Tangerang in the west, a distance of about 22.5 kilometers, via various major arteries including Jl. Casablanca, which is notorious for its traffic jams.
But later, the route may be revised as the investors also want to serve the city center. Construction of the project is expected to commence in December this year and be completed within the following two years.

Besides planning a monorail, the administration has allocated Rp 117 billion to a busway project, due to be launched in December this year.
It has ordered 60 buses for the project, which will run the 15 kilometers from Blok M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta. Passengers will be charged Rp 3,000 per trip.
Currently, the fares for air-conditioned and non air-conditioned buses are Rp 1,000 to Rp 3,500 per trip.

City studies monorail proposal

2003-06-18T22:47:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, June 18, 2003

JAKARTA: The city administration plans to carefully study a proposal from a Malaysian firm, M Trans Holding, which expressed its wish to construct a monorail project to help ease the chronic problems of the city transportation.

Assistant to the city secretary for development affairs Irzal Djamal said he expected to receive this weekend the feasibility report, which will become the basis for the issuance of a concession permit to the Indonesian Transit Central (ITC) by Governor Sutiyoso.

ITC is the consortium which will manage the project.

Irzal said that he was tasked by the governor to study the feasibility document to see whether the project could be integrated with the overall plan for the transportation system being developed by the city administration.

"One of the things that is important to us is the price for passengers, and whether the price is feasible for the average Indonesian," Irzal said.

The Malaysian firm is prepared to invest Rp 3.28 trillion (US$400 million) in the first stage of the project, including the construction of stations.

The company plan to construct the monorail connecting Bekasi and Tangerang, passing through the city, including Jl. Casablanca.--JP

Bekasi-Tangerang monorail proposed

2003-06-14T07:47:00.000+07:00

Bekasi-Tangerang monorail proposed to ease congestion
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A Malaysian firm has expressed willingness to invest in the construction of a monorail to help ease chronic traffic congestion in the city.
"We are ready to construct a monorail. Once we obtain permission (from the governor), we will start," Ruslan Diwirjo, chief executive officer of Indonesia Transit Central, a consortium set up to develop the monorail project, said on Friday.

The consortium also comprises local companies PT Adhi Karya, Global Profex Synergy, and Radiant Utama.

According to Ruslan, the Malaysian firm, M Trans Holding, is prepared to invest Rp 3.28 trillion (US$400 million) in the first stage of the project, including the construction of stations.
The project will link Bekasi in the east and Tangerang in the west, a distance of about 22.5 kilometers, via various major arteries, including Jl. Casablanca, which is notorious for its traffic jams.

"We have also sought approval from the Bekasi and Tangerang municipalities, Pak Agum (the Minister of Transportation), and the director general for land transportation (Iskandar Abubakar), for the project," said Ruslan after a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso at City Hall.
The monorail cars, which will use technology from the U.S. that has already been applied in Malaysia, will be able to travel at up to 80 kilometers per hour.

Meanwhile, Sutiyoso said that in addition to the Malaysian firm, a British firm had also expressed its willingness to develop a monorail system.
Sutiyoso, however, did not name the British company.
"There are private companies from Malaysia and Britain who are willing to invest in constructing a monorail here. It's purely an investment," Governor Sutiyoso told reporters.

Sutiyoso said that the companies would need at least two-and-a-half years before the monorail would be up and running.
"I have told them that passenger fares must be cheaper than the fares for other forms of public transportation. In addition, it must be more comfortable for passengers," Sutiyoso remarked.
Sutiyoso said the monorail project was part of the Greater Jakarta Transportation Plan that had been designed by a team from the University of Indonesia (UI).

This blueprint for the future of transportation in the city includes a monorail (light rapid transit, or LRT), busway (bus rapid transit, or BRT), subway, and water transportation.
Earlier plans to develop an MRT system here were abandoned for various reasons, including financing problems.

Meanwhile, Irzal Djamal, an assistant to the city secretary for development affairs, said the administration would welcome any investment in transportation by the private sector.
"But, all investment must be in accordance with the existing Greater Jakarta Transportation Plan. Otherwise, we can't accept it," said Irzal.

The city administration is preparing a busway project in an effort to ease traffic congestion in the city. The launch of the project, now scheduled for the end of the year, has been delayed several times due to poor planning.