Jakarta Governor to Personally Inspect Monorail Developer Claim; Firm Submits Paperwork on Time Globe
(Insider Stories)-Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, widely seen as one of Indonesia’s few competent, reformist leaders, has indicated he is taking a personal interest in the development of a monorail that would be one of the capital city’s few modern modes of public transport, including inspecting a claim by the developer that it has settled a debt it owes to a rival company.
The Jakarta Globe reports Widodo said Wednesday that developer PT Jakarta Monorail has submitted documents within a city government-imposed two-week deadline to show that it has adequate financing and has paid off a debt to a rival developer.
Widodo said the documents are to be sent to regional development planning agency Bappeda and then to the governor’s office, after which construction can begin immediately. He didn’t give an exact timeframe but said that he plans to personally inspect Jakarta Monorail’s claim it has settled a dispute with rival developer PT Adhi Karya, which built part of a previous monorail but abandoned the project in the early stages of construction due to financial difficulties.
Jakarta Monorail had owed 194 billion ($19 million) to Adhi Karya, which abandoned the original Jakarta monorail project in 2004, leaving the planned monorail route through parts of the city center littered with half-finished concrete and steel-rebar pylons.
Jakarta Monorail has said it has teamed up with investment firm Ortus Holdings to inject IDR2.3 trillion ($237 million) into the project, with development due to start next month and expected to take up to two years to complete.
Full story: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/jakarta-monorail-submits-documents-construction-may-start-soon/581014
