JAKARTA. After the Jakarta City Council rejected the city administration’s plan to fund the construction of an elevated light rapid transit (LRT) system, the city has turned to private developers to construct the system.

The private developers are those with buildings located on one of the seven corridors along the planned routes. The developers are Pakuwon Group, PT Summarecon Agung, PT Intiland Development, JI Expo, PT Duta Pertiwi, Mulia Group, PT BSD, Agung Podomoro Land, Panin Group and Lippo Group.

Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said that he offered the developers the chance to fund the construction of the LRT. In return, he said, the developers may increase their building floor coefficients (KLB) for their buildings located along the LRT corridors. The KLB is the standard for a building’s total maximum size that is permitted to be constructed on a given area.

“We have asked private developers to help us construct infrastructure for the LRT system. In the first phase of construction, we will develop corridors one and seven out of the total seven planned corridors,” Ahok told reporters at City Hall in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

Ahok said that in the plan, the developers would be responsible for constructing the LRT infrastructure while city-owned enterprises would be responsible for procuring the trains and operating the system.

“We hope to start construction on the two corridors early next year and finish before the 2018 Asian Games,” Ahok said.

Separately, the governor’s assistant for transportation, industry and trade, Sutanto Soehodho, said that the LRT infrastructure would cost roughly Rp 500 billion (US$40 million) per km. In total, the infrastructure for the two corridors would cost around Rp 25.8 trillion.

Sutanto said that the city administration would give the private developers until Jan. 30 to affirm their commitment to help the city in developing the LRT infrastructure.

“They may also use the time to discuss between themselves how much KLB they would like us to increase, and how much they are willing to support us,” Sutanto told reporters at City Hall.

Meanwhile, transportation expert Ellen Tangkudung said that a quick and decent transportation system in the city was needed, and that the LRT could provide such system for passengers.

“Now that the monorail construction has been cancelled, the LRT would be a good idea. However, there are many things that the city administration must make sure of before construction starts,” Ellen told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Thursday.

For example, she said, the city must also make sure that the routes are effective and that the tariff was affordable for all classes. The LRT system must also be integrated with other modes of transportation, such as mass rapid transit (MRT) and Transjakarta busway.

Ellen also mentioned that Corridor seven of the LRT should not overlap with the central government’s existing plan to construct an airport train system. (Dewanti A. Wardhani)

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie