Abandoned monorail lines to be used for city MRT

Tifa Asrianti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/26/2008 10:53 AM  

The city administration will use the abandoned monorail routes for its mass rapid transit (MRT) network. 

The east-west route is the monorail's blue line, which will link Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Roxy in West Jakarta. 

The administration is proposing the new route to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the MRT project advisor, in December. 

Governor Fauzi Bowo on Tuesday said a team of JICA experts would arrive in December to review the feasibility study for the North-South route, which spanned from Kota in West Jakarta to Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta. 

"The East route will link Kampung Melayu, Kali Malang and the planned bus terminal in Pulo Gebang, while the West route will probably link Kebon Jeruk and Tomang. The routes will meet at around Wisma Dharmala, Karet," Fauzi said. 

The stalled monorail project was planned with two routes, the green line and the blue line. PT Jakarta Monorail built some of the infrastructure required for the green line through South Jakarta's Kuningan business district and along Jl. Sudirman to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. 

The blue line was not built. 

"We will make some changes to the blue line," Fauzi said. "The MRT will go underground under Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio in Casablanca, South Jakarta, and come up aboveground at Jl. Lapangan Ros, Tebet," Fauzi said. 

Bambang Susantono from the Indonesian Transportation Society said the city administration should review all urban transportation before replacing one public transportation mode with another. 

"We are also reviewing the Study on Integrated Transportation Master Plan (Sitramp) from now until next year to see if one of the busway corridors is suitable for a monorail, light train or subway. We must study commuter patterns," he said. 

The MRT project, managed by both the central government and the Jakarta administration, is expected to be completed in 2014. 

Fauzi said the second phase loan agreement, which amounts to US$450 million, for the MRT project would take place in March 2009. The first phase of the loan was only US$17 million. 

PT Mass Rapid Transit Jakarta (MRTJ) president director Eddi Santosa said his company had only received Rp 63 billion from the first phase loan agreement, while the remaining Rp 100 billion went to the city transportation department for design and engineering. 

MRTJ has received Rp 49.5 billion from the city administration and Rp 500 million from traditional market operator PD Pasar Jaya. 

The North-South MRT project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase consists of feasibility studies, the formation of MRTJ and the construction of a 14.3-kilometer line from Lebak Bulus to Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta. 

The second phase of development is construction of the line from Dukuh Atas to Kota.

Govt to focus on port, railway projects

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 05/03/2008 11:14 AM 

The government will prioritize the development of port and railway infrastructure this year to ease the flow of goods and reduce high transportation costs in the country, a minister says.

"Our priority is to reduce bottlenecks in ports and railways, including at Tanjung Priok port, and railways on Java island," Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said after a meeting with economic ministers on Friday.

Among development plans for this year, he said, was the modernization of navigation systems in three international airports: Kuala Namu airport in Medan, Lombok airport in Lombok and Hasanuddin airport in Makassar.

He also said the ministry would develop ports designed to load crude palm oil (CPO) as the commodity had become the country's main export.

In the first quarter of 2008, CPO was the major contributor to the rise in the country's non-oil-and-gas exports, which increased 47 percent to $4.4 billion compared to in the same period last year.

To help secure domestic distribution, Jusman said the ministry would fast track permit issuance for coal railway transportation projects to help secure distribution, particularly to state power plants.

"For port and railway projects under development by coal producers, we will speed-up permit issuance," Jusman said.

The ministry stated its budget this year was reduced to Rp 14.11 trillion (US$1.53 billion) after a 7.76 percent cut aimed to reduce state expenditures in response to a surge in global oil prices.

The Finance Ministry has cut the budget allocation to all government offices by a maximum 10 percent to safeguard the state budget, which is burdened by oil subsidies.

Despite the cut, Jusman said the ministry would try to improve the country's transportation system, including by restoring trains and modernizing navigation systems.

He also said the country's transportation and logistics systems needed to be integrated so the ministry could design a complete, multi-year infrastructure development strategy.

"Our transportation and logistics systems must be integrated. The Transportation Ministry will design a master plan to rebuild the country's ports, airports and railways to support logistics," he said.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has repeatedly said inferior infrastructure would result in increased product prices and burdened customers.

Fauzi's 100-day plan lacks results: Historian

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Approaching the end of Governor Fauzi Bowo's first 100-day action plan, Jakartans were divided on how the city administration performed.

The plan, which spans from Oct. 8 to Jan. 15, comprises 19 areas ranging from the reduction of traffic congestion caused by busway lane construction, to the development of the Mass Rapid Transit (monorail) project, flood mitigation and providing better public facilities for disabled people.

Alwi Shahab, a historian and avid observer of Jakarta, said Fauzi's 100-day plan had not shown any significant results. However, he said, Fauzi's efforts to improve Jakarta were commendable.

"The problem is, his programs were not well delegated to lower-level officials. It made his plans ineffective," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said a plan would be remarkable if it was carried out by neighborhood and community units, involving residents.

Urban planning expert from Trisakti University, Yayat Supriatna, said it was difficult for the public to evaluate the governor's 100-day performance, as the plans' targets were unclear.

"Let's say the poverty level rose by 40 percent last year. If the administration had targeted to decrease that level, then it could be evaluated," he said.

Fauzi Bowo had shown improvement at an internal and horizontal level, but failed to tackle the city's crucial problems, Yayat said.

"Unlike former Governor Sutiyoso, Fauzi has shown a commitment to cooperate and coordinate with top leaders from Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi in handling the flood problem," he said.

At an internal level, Fauzi had shown progress in the recruitment of new officials, he said.

"However, on a wider level, Jakartans have not really benefited from his programs," Yayat said.

The 100-day programs were just a beginning, he said. To know what Fauzi's next steps would be was the most important thing for now, Yayat said.

Unlike the urban experts and observers, many residents appeared not to know about Fauzi's 100-day plan.

"National issues like disasters have taken my attention more than the governor's programs," Olansons Girsang, a lecturer's assistant at University of Indonesia, said Saturday.

He said the 100-day plan was not well known, since it had not been well publicized by the government.

Andre Djarot, winner of the 2005 Abang Jakarta (Jakarta's youth tourism ambassador) award, also said the administration had failed to publicize it.

"In my opinion, people see the work merely as a continuation of Sutiyoso's programs," he told the Post.

The city administration had shown more progress than previously in handling the flood problem, but the traffic problem has worsened, Djarot said.

In fact very few Jakartans interviewed were familiar with the 100-day plan. When asked for their opinions on it, many chose to talk about getting a better representation of society in the administration.

A member of the public organization Betawi Consultative Body, Syahrul Kumala, said Saturday he hoped the governor would give priority to Betawi natives in electing staff for strategic positions.

"The governor should replace under-qualified officials with Betawi professionals," he told the Post.

Syahrul, however, did not explain what Fauzi had missed and needed to improve in his 100-day plan, nor did he mention any knowledge of its contents.

Another body member, identifying himself as only Taufik, like Syahrul said he wanted more ethnic representatives contributing to the making of bylaws.

As for the 100-day plan, he only said, "It's good, I give it my support," but did not comment on any particular area.

New governor pays visit to bus terminals, train station

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

New Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo inspected bus terminals and a train station on Tuesday.

Fauzi, along with Deputy Governor Priyono and other staff members, visited the Pulo Gadung (East Jakarta), Kampung Rambutan (South Jakarta) and Kalideres (West Jakarta) terminals.

The team also visited Senen train station in Central Jakarta.

They checked safety maintenance of buses and the on-site facilities of health and law enforcement agencies.

"The safety is getting better because terminal operators now impose urine tests on drivers before they depart," said Fauzi, referring to the newly set up drug-testing posts of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).

Besides conducting checks, Fauzi greeted waiting passengers and gave them brochures warning against bringing family with them upon return to the city.

The city administration blamed travelers who return with relatives seeking jobs for overcrowding in the capital.

While at Pulo Gadung, Fauzi also told reporters the overcrowded terminal, which is hemmed in by residential tracts, would be relocated to Pulo Gebang, also in East Jakarta, within three years.

Pulo Gadung, built on 3.5 hectares in 1975 for 300 buses, now accomodates 750 buses, according to East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan Abdul Halim. The Pulo Gebang terminal will cover an area of 10 hectares.

Deputy head of the city transportation agency Udar Pristono said last week the construction of the new terminal would begin early next year and it was expected to be operational by 2011.

He said building the terminal would cost Rp 600 billion (US$ 197 million) and the administration would propose allocating Rp 200 billion from the city budget each year between 2008 and 2011.

He added Rp 5 billion had already gone toward acquiring land since 2003.

Udar said the new bus terminal would be integrated with the city's busway system and accommodate city and inter-province buses currently using the Pulo Gadung terminal.

After the new terminal is operational, Pulo Gadung will serve busway and smaller vehicles belonging to local public transportation system.

He said the new terminal would have "direct access to Cikunir toll roads and then to Cikampek".

To minimize the impact on traffic in the area, the transportation agency will coordinate with state toll operator Jasa Marga, Udar said.

Spending on infrastructure set to rise by 34 percent next year

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will allocate more money for infrastructure development in next year's budget in an effort to ease the distribution bottlenecks that have seriously hampered the country's economic growth.

"The bottleneck problem will become worse in 2008 if nothing is done to deal with the infrastructure issue," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said Wednesday in Jakarta.

Boediono said that the government planned to increase spending on infrastructure by 34 percent to Rp 56 trillion (about US$6.2 billion) next year from Rp 41 trillion this year. The Public Works Ministry and Transportation Ministry would receive Rp 34.3 trillion and Rp 24.2 trillion, respectively.

The Rp 56 trillion would include Rp 7.03 trillion for the regions paid out of the Special Transfer Fund (DAK).

The coordinating minister stressed that while infrastructure spending would account for the biggest increase in budget spending, human development would also remain a top priority.

Human development, which includes education and health, would receive some Rp 83 trillion next year, an increase of about Rp 7.9 trillion over this year's figure. The human development allocation would therefore account for about 15 percent of total 2008 budget spending, which Boediono estimated would amount to Rp 554 trillion.

He said that the 6.8 percent growth penciled in for 2008 would be difficult to achieve if nothing was done to speed up the construction of infrastructure, such as new expressways and power plants.

"We have acute experience of these problems. We lack electricity, expressways, ports," he stressed.

He said that to achieve the 2008 growth target, the government would further relax its fiscal policy.

"We have decided to change our fiscal policy to support economic growth," he said, explaining that up until 2005, post-crisis fiscal policy had been primarily intended to achieve fiscal consolidation. "We have now entered a period where spending should serve as a stimulus for growth," he explained.

The country's tax to GDP ratio has slowly climbed from less than 10 percent in 1999 to 12 percent in 2006. The ratio is expected to rise to 13 percent this year. Meanwhile, with the latest debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the debt to GDP ratio has fallen to 42 percent from 60 percent in 2004 and 100 percent in 2000.

The government is predicting that year-on-year inflation will remain moderate at 6 to 6.5 percent next year, while Bank Indonesia (the central bank) is expected to further trim its key rate to 7.5 percent.

The oil price reference employed for the 2008 budget is

US$57 per barrel, while the country is expected to produce 1.034 billion barrels per day.

Foreign exchange reserves are forecast to grow to between $59.3 billion and $61.1 billion next year, from $51.6 billion at present, with the average rupiah-U.S. dollar exchange rate remaining at Rp 9,300 per dollar.

"It is actually possible to achieve 7 percent growth, as we did before the 1998 crisis, which in itself was a remarkable achievement. The difference now is that we have to do it in a different social and political environment -- a more democratic society," he said.

House OKs funds for flood control programs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives and the central government have agreed to fund a range of projects to provide long-term flood-protection for thousands of families.

The projects include the construction of dams, lakes and the East Flood Canal, as well as the revitalization of rivers.

"Funding has been allocated in the state budget for multiyear commitments until 2009," Akhmad Muqowam, who sits on House of Representatives Commission V for public works, said Monday during a hearing.

"High priority projects will be listed when budget adjustments are made mid this year."

For the East Flood Canal project, the central government -- through the Public Works Ministry -- has agreed to fund the canal's construction, while the city administration is responsible for the land acquisition process.

The project, which is scheduled for completion by 2010, requires a total investment of Rp 3.8 trillion. The canal will cut through Cipinang, Sunter and Cakung rivers.

The ministry has proposed the central government allocate Rp 2 trillion for construction work, with the Jakarta administration contributing the remaining Rp 1.8 trillion.

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said the construction itself needed Rp 2.5 trillion.

Governor Sutiyoso, who also attended the hearing Monday, said the administration was aiming to acquire all land for the project by the end of the year.

"We will focus on the East Flood Canal project, and hopefully the land acquisition process will be over before Jakarta has a new governor," said Sutiyoso who finishes his term in August.

As of today, only a 7.7-kilometer stretch of the 23.7-km canal has been completed.

For the construction of dams, including those located outside the city, the Jakarta administration will cooperate with West Java and Banten provinces.

More than 80 people died in last month's floods, which affected between 45-75 percent of the city. Sixty-five others died of flood-related illnesses, including leptospirosis, a disease spread by rats.

Besides the flood recovery projects, the city administration is also planning to relocate 71,000 families from riverbanks to low-cost apartments built by the Public Housing Ministry.

Public Housing Minister Muhammad Yusuf Asyari said the ministry would build 725 apartment blocks at a total cost of Rp 6.5 trillion. Each block could accommodate 100 families.

Flood canal plan years out of date experts say

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Building the East Flood Canal according to the current plan, which was drawn up about 80 years ago, would only heighten the threat of flooding in the city, experts say.

Speaking on Tuesday at a public discussion on spatial planning, Trisakti University hydrology expert Erwin Iskandar recommended the start of the canal be taken further south.

"Both of the flood canals were designed according to conditions in Batavia, or old Jakarta, which had a total area of 2,500 hectares," Erwin said.

"Now the city's area is 65,000 hectares, the master plan must be revised."

He said that by taking the start of the canal further south, where the land was higher, the flood risk in outer areas would be minimized.

Erwin said the existing West Flood Canal was only able to stop central areas of Jakarta from flooding because at the time of its construction the outer areas were not inhabited and therefore in less need of protection.

The West Canal Flood, designed by engineer Herman van Breen, was constructed in 1922 in response to the great flood in Batavia in 1918.

The canal cut through the Cideng, Krukut and Grogol rivers, channeling their water directly into the sea.

"Their main concern then was to keep people living in Weltevreden (now the Medan Merdeka area) and Menteng dry. Fortunately, the outer areas had not been inhabited," Erwin said.

As witnessed today, outer areas like Manggarai, South Jakarta, and Jatinegara, East Jakarta, were among the most severely affected in both the 2002 and 2007 floods.

He said a similar condition could be created in outer areas of the East Flood Canal, like Cipinang in East Jakarta, if the project were to be built to the current plan.

During last month's floods, 75 percent of the city was affected, almost four times the area affected in 2002.

For the city administration it is the perfect time to push forward with the canal plan.

The project, which is scheduled for completion by 2010, requires a Rp 4.124 trillion investment -- both for land acquisition and the construction of the stretch of the canal that would cut through the Cipinang, Sunter and Cakung rivers.

As of today, only a 7.7 km stretch of the 23.7-km canal has been completed.

The canal, which has an upstream depth of three meters and a downstream depth of seven m, is projected to accommodate more than 390 cubic meters of water per second.

Environmentalists have criticized the plan as shortsighted and suggested either building lakes or developing a deep tunnel reservoir.

During the discussion, Tarumanagara urban planning expert Kemal Taruc highlighted the need for the city administration to develop a land contour map to calculate average depths across the city in a hypothetical flood.

"The simulation is needed as a precaution. We could warn residents based on the estimated depths," Kemal said.

He added that previously urban planners and experts from the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) had offered to establish floodplain boundaries and flood depths through detailed analysis.

"Unfortunately, the administration does not even have a thing as simple as a land contour map."

Invest now or the whole of Jakarta will be submerged

Riyadi Suparno, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Floods have paralyzed Jakarta at least twice, now and back in 2002, and experts believe that the flooding is becoming a five-yearly "event," and that unless something is done to prevent it, we will have another major flood in 2012 or even sooner.

This time, the flooding is said to have been the worst ever, with 70 percent of the city affected last week. The losses have been huge, including dozens of fatalities. The official estimate puts total losses at Rp 4.3 trillion (US$470 million). This estimate includes losses resulting from disruption to industry and trade, household losses, damaged infrastructure and lost productivity.

Such estimates, however, do not cover intangible losses, such as the terrible inconveniences and mental distress caused to the victims.

Looking at all these losses, both tangible and intangible, as well as the potential losses from future floods, we might well wonder why the central and Jakarta governments have not invested more in flood-prevention infrastructure.

To date, most of our flood defenses were built by the Netherlands Indies administration, i.e., the canal system that channels water from the western part of Jakarta to the sea.

About 20 years ago, the city administration drew up plans to build the 23.5-kilometer East Flood Canal to divert water heading to Central and North Jakarta through a number of rivers to the sea. This project, however, is still in limbo due to the lack of money allocated for the project in the Jakarta annual budget.

Following the massive flooding in 2002, the Jakarta administration drew up a more comprehensive flood-prevention master plan, which incorporated the construction of the East Flood Canal. The master plan also envisages the construction of more sluice gates and water-retention ponds, river dredging and the relocation of riverside dwellers.

The plan will need a total investment of Rp 18.1 trillion, but to date has largely remained nothing more than a plan because not enough money has been committed to seeing it through.

But why the paucity of funding? Why has inadequate investment been made in flood-prevention projects given the massive losses that the inundations produce?

The answer may lie in politics, where proper project analysis is frequently absent. Projects of lower economic value are often prioritized by the politicians if they deliver immediate benefits that can be felt by their constituents, while projects of greater value may be ignored if their benefits will only become apparent years down the line.

And flood-prevention projects definitely fall into the latter category, where the benefits will not be immediately apparent upon the completion of the projects, as compared, for example, to the Jakarta monorail, whose benefits will be immediate. This might explain why the Jakarta administration is a lot more interested in pursuing the monorail project than the East Flood Canal project.

Unlike the monorail, where private investors are keen to invest their money, especially after a controversial government guarantee was given, flood-prevention projects like the East Flood Canal do not attract much interest from the private sector. This is what economists normally refer to as "market failure".

In such a situation, the government has an obligation to intervene. If the Jakarta government has no resources or lacks the capacity to implement the plan, the central government has to take it over. Otherwise, the plan will remain on the drawing board for ever.

There is no reason for the central government not to take over the project. First of all, it will have a spillover effect in two other provinces -- West Java and Banten.

Secondly, the government has the capacity and resources to implement the plan. If the government lacks ready cash at the moment, it can always borrow to finance this essential project.

In fact, financing the expansion of Jakarta's flood defenses through borrowing would be eminently sensible, and even be the fairest way of all as the benefits that the project will bring will extend to succeeding generations. By financing these projects through borrowing, the next generation will also play a part in paying for the benefits it will enjoy from the investment we make today.

Conversely, we must also ensure that we do not burden succeeding generations with unnecessary expense resulting from markups and corruption during the course of the works.

So, we have no other choice now than to soon put this comprehensive flood mitigation plan into effect. Otherwise, the whole of Jakarta could well be submerged in 2012, or even sooner.