MRT not my responsibility: Jokowi

Fikri Zaki Muhammadi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Jakarta | Tue, April 23 2013, 12:17 PM

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Paper Edition | Page: 9

Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has declined to accept personal responsibility for construction of the mass rapid transit (MRT), a move that could further delay the disbursement of foreign grants to finance the mega project.

Jokowi said on Monday that the authority to sign the letter regarding the fund disbursement lay with PT MRT Jakarta, as the operator of the project, which he said was responsible to the city administration. PT MRT is a city-owned enterprise.

“[If I sign the letter] then all responsibility for the funds’ usage lies with the governor alone,” Jokowi said at City Hall.

The 2008 Finance Ministerial Regulation on the procedure for issuing grants to regional administrations stipulates that the head of the regional administration is obliged to take full responsibility for the funds to be disbursed and sign a letter of statement to this effect.

The signature is a requirement for the minister to disburse the cash. The responsibility covers the details of usage and the agreement to return any unused funds, if any. Jokowi argued that state projects run by the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry did not require President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s signature.

“As governor, I don’t always have the time to monitor the project implementation,” he said. “I can’t always oversee the project, every second, hour or day. It doesn’t work that way.”

Meanwhile, several other issues have also delayed the project. Initially, the city aimed to start it in February. The tender winner for the much-awaited mega project has yet to be announced. PT MRT said that it would be announced soon, describing the announcement as “the MRT project soft launch”.

President director Dono Boestami has said that the company had met with the relevant authorities to complete the required administrative steps.

However, Dono, who was appointed as PT MRT Jakarta’s top executive in March, declined to elaborate on the details or the timeline.

The construction of the first MRT track, set to connect Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, will be partially funded with a ¥125 billion (US$1.27 million) soft loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The central government has agreed to repay 49 percent of the loan — up from 42 percent — while the administration will pay the rest with a loan period of 40 years, a grace period of 10 years and an interest rate of below 1 percent per year.

The first stage of the MRT is targeted for completion in 2016. The MRT is being touted as one of the solutions to the capital’s frustrating gridlock.

Separately, Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said that the administration had decided to cancel the Jakarta Emergency Dredging Initiative (JEDI), or the Jakarta Urgent Flood Mitigation Project (JUMFP) as it is now called, due to the convoluted terms that came with the $150 million loan provided by the World Bank.

“We will continue the project using our own budget,” he said.

The terms included details on relocating squatters from the riverbanks.

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