Govt may provide cash for deep tunnel project

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The central government has agreed to help finance the multi purpose deep tunnel project (MPDT), pending a feasibility study, a state official said.

"The project is a good idea because it will overcome many problems in the city such as traffic congestion, water shortages, and poor sanitation," Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto told a press conference here Thursday after opening a seminar on the project.

He said the central government would not mind helping finance the project but it would first look at the result of a feasibility planned by the city administration this year. He suggested the feasibility study be paid for by the city administration.

"We will see whether the project is financially and technically feasible," he said.

The head of the Jakarta Water Regulatory Body, Achmad Lanti, said the body would need around US$2 million to conduct a feasibility study and to make the grand design for the project.

"It will take two years to finish the feasibility study and the design,"

"And if the project is not feasible, we will not make it happen," he said.

The 22-kilometer tunnel will be constructed 15 meters below the West Flood Canal project with entrances in Balekambang, East Jakarta, and Manggarai, South Jakarta, and exits in Tanah Abang and Roxy in Central Jakarta and at the airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang.

There will be two levels of roadway and waste water reservoirs in the tunnel with diameters of 12 meters. Above the roadways, the tunnel will be used as a utility duct.

It is estimated that the tunnel will generate around Rp 2.2 trillion ($241 million) each year from the operation of the roadway as well as waste water treatment.

Meanwhile, Governor Sutiyoso said that the multi purpose deep tunnel would be the answer to all the crucial problems faced by the capital.

"I hope this concept will attract domestic investors as well as foreign investors because this is a big project which cannot be financed by the city administration or the central government alone," he said.

The project was first proposed by the Jakarta Water Regulatory Body in February after severe flooding inundated much of the capital. In its initial proposal, it was estimated that the project would need Rp 4.37 trillion. However, more recent projections put the cost at four times that amount.