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22 March 2012

Source : Investor Daily

Keyword :

Category : Railways

File : Proyek KA Supercepat Jakarta-Bandung gagal .pdf

Jakarta - Bandung High-Speed Railway Project Fails

By Tri Listiyarini

JAKARTA - Having just been announced to the public two days ago, the Jakarta - Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR)

megaproject has been confirmed to be rejected. Indonesian Government has declined the request of Japanese

Government to fund 80 percent of the project, whose total investment amounts up to Rp 56.11 trillion (US$ 5.95

billion).

The Indonesi an Government has official ly decli ned the offer of the Japanese Government to fund Jakarta - Bandung

High-Speed Train. This is because the Rp 56.11 trillion-worth railway project has not become a priority of our

government, at least in the next five years, said Deputy Minister of Transportation, Bambang Susantono, when

receiving the Japanese Government delegation in the Office of the Minis try of Transportation (Kemenhub) i n Jakarta

on Wednesday (21 March).

The guest delegation was led by Railway Bureau Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,

Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan, Hiroshi Tabata. He admitted that he understands the stance of Indonesian

Government.

Bambang Susantono explained that Indonesian Government will first finish the railway projects within the Master

Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) of 2011 - 2025, with a total

investment of Rp 320 trillion. The development of national railway projects does not mention at all about

development of HSR for both Jakarta - Bandung and Jakarta - Sura baya routes.

However, the government allows if, within the next five years, there are private investors interested in undertaking

the Jakarta - Bandung HSR project under public private partnership (PPP) scheme, without involving any funds from

the State Budget (APBN). Once a gain, if there are private investors wi l li ng to be involved within the next five years ,

we will welcome them, as long as they can do so without fiscal support, he said.

Bambang Susantono provided the breakdown of the Rp 320 trillion-worth budget, which is divided into three

projects. First is the development of inter-city railway, namely, Jakarta - Surabaya double track, which includes

developments of Manggarai - Cikarang double-double track railway and southern trans-Java double track railway.

Second is development of intra-city railway to improve connection in metropolitan cities, such as Jakarta,

Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung. Included in this project are Soekarno-Hatta and Kualanamu Airport Railways. Third

is for special rail way projects, such as Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Train (LRT), such as those developed

in Jakarta.

In addition to the three projects, the Rp 320 trillion funds will also cover cargo railway projects that are undertaken

by private investors in Sulawesi (Makassar) and Kalimantan. There is also a project of locomotive centre

development by PT KAI (Kereta Api Indonesia) and GE of the United States in Yogyakarta, after the purchase of 120 GE

locomotives by the state-owned enterprise (BUMN). Within the context of MP3EI, in addition to creating

connectivity, which is the current concern of the Indonesia n Government, we want to contribute to a reduction i n the

burden of logistics transport on roads, a nd shi fting personal transport to urban ra il way transport, he said.

Bambang Susantono said that HSR development always connects between two commercial and financial centres

within a country; for example, Tokyo - Osaka, Beiji ng - Shanghai, and in the future, Saigon - Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.

Indonesian Government admitted that Bandung is a commercial centre, but it is not a financial centre. Additionally,

various literatures have mentioned that the cost of run, or the construction cost of HSR development in various

parts of the world is often far higher than predicted. In contrast, the passenger figures are often lower than initial

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business prediction.

Therefore, the Indonesian Government has assessed that the result of the pre-feasibility study conducted by the

Japanese Government needs to be further reviewed. Whether the presence of Jakarta - Bandung HSR can truly

posi tively impact on regional economy in the vic ini ty of Jakarta and Bandung needs to be reviewed, lest it ultimately

leads to demand for subsidy from the government to make the HSR project feasible. We highly suggest that the

Japanese Government conducts market sounding to see the extent of the private sectors interest in this project, he

said.

Nevertheless, Bambang continued that, for future development, Indonesi a wil l hol d an international seminar on HSRdevelopment by inviting experts from around the world. The international seminar is slated to take place in June

2012.

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