Indonesia's
slow train to Bandung. Bureaucratic buffers have halted Indonesia's prestige
rail link connecting Jakarta and Bandung for the two months since President
Joko Widodo presided over the groundbreaking ceremony
Construction of a high-speed rail link
connecting the capital Jakarta to Bandung, Indonesia's third-largest city, has
finally received transport ministry approval after being stalled for two
months. But the project still faces major land acquisition hurdles and
unfriendly fire from the air force.
The delayed prestige rail
project has personally embarrassed President Joko Widodo, who presided at the
groundbreaking ceremony on Jan. 22. Widodo has made a strong personal
commitment to national infrastructure development since taking office in 2014.
On Wednesday, the transport
ministry and the Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC) consortium finally signed
a concession agreement that paves the way for a business and construction
permit. Hermanto Dwiatmoko, the ministry's director general for railways, said
two permits can be issued this week and work may be possible next week.
The ministry finally bowed to
the consortium's request that the 50-year, build-operate-transfer concession
begin when operations start, and not on the date of the construction permit's issuance.
Transportation Minister Ignasius
Jonan nevertheless set May 31, 2019, as the deadline for commencement of
operations, which allows only three years for construction.
"Delays in completion will reduce the period of concession," Jonan
said at the signing ceremony with KCIC President Hanggoro Budi Wiryawan.
State-owned construction contractor Wijaya Karya leads KCIC.
The ministry has agreed to a
4.6-meter gap between the two tracks, providing that trains do not exceed
250kph. The consortium initially proposed a top speed of 350kph.
A compromise has also been
reached on line exclusivity. No station can now be built within 25km of a KCIC
station. The ministry earlier deemed 10km far enough away.
More hurdles
The construction permit expected on Friday covers only a
5km stretch of the 142km project. Wiryawan said further documents will be
submitted in April, but Dwiatmoko said he could not guarantee future approvals
will be smooth.
We will have to perform technical checks," he said. "Some
sections of track will run through tunnels, others across bridges. We will have
to check one by one."
The ministry has been accused of hindering the
project after favoring a rival project from Japan in keenly contested bidding.
Land acquisition remains a headache. The KCIC
president said most of the land needed already belongs to two of the four
Indonesian consortium members: toll road operator Jasa Marga and plantation
company Perkebunan Nusantara VIII.
Another 600 hectares is separately owned,
however, and could cost as much as 3 trillion rupiah ($227 million). Land
acquisition difficulties have proved a major hindrance to other Indonesian
infrastructure projects.
"We're in the process," Wiryawan said
curtly when queried about land purchases.
The air force is meanwhile refusing permission
for a station to be built near its Halim base in eastern Jakarta, citing
proximity to national "vital objects." A total of four stations are
planned along the Jakarta-Bandung route.
Wiryawan suggested that relocating the planned
Halim station to Cipinang, another part of eastern Jakarta offered by the air
force, may be prohibitively expensive.
"The defense ministry says they will
mediate," Wiryawan said. "We hope there will be a solution
soon."
The omens are not encouraging. The consortium
already had to move its main Jakarta station from central Gambir to Halim,
chopping 10km from the track. On the upside, this reduced projected costs from
$5.5 billion to $5.13 billion.
Nikkei
Asia Review
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