JAKARTA: The Department of Transportation turns out to have not give clarification to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) about the establishment of the winner of the tender for mass rapid transit (MRT) basic design project.Minister of Transportation Jusman Syafii Djamal said the clarification would be sent this week, so the JICA could immediately fix the winner of the tender. “We are not intending to delay the process,” he said after a closed meeting discussing MRT in Jakarta yesterday.

Previously, it was reported that the JICA and the Department of Transportation blamed each other for the delay in the final establishment of the winner of the tender, which was supposed to be completed in December 2008.

The JICA asks for clarification about the reason the Department of Transportation gives a point of 75.43 point to PT Katahira and a point of 74.13 to PT Nippon Koei in the report of the result of the US$17 million worth of tender.

In response to the delay, Deputy Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs for Infrastructure Bambang Susantono revealed the government was thinking of a way to accelerate the MRT basic design work into before March 2010.

“The acceleration can be done, for example, adding more experts in the planning and consultin processes or cutting the implementation time from March 2010,” he told.

According to him, the acceleration measure would be deliberated by a steering committee meeting at the end of January or early February 2009, which would be attended by all of the stakeholders, including the JICA.

Bambang hoped the acceleration could compensate for the delay in the MRT basic design works. (Bisnis/hwi/fim/mcd)

source: bisnis.com