MRT Jakarta Official Website

In the recent news, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Fauzi Bowo, has urged the national government to establish a presidential decree for the MRT Project in Jakarta. The decree is needed as core regulation umbrella which could ensure the necessary stable platform  for years ahead and could speed up the MRT development. With the global economic crisis looming and series of national elections coming in the next years.

 

The decree is basically needed to reconfirm couple of decisions that should be placed to make sure the schedule is met:

1. That MRT is a national priority project which the development is being delegated to the local government, with the decided cost sharing scheme between the national and local government (42%:58%)

2. The confirmation of loan amount and loan agreement steps needed to finalize the project

3. That MRT Project is a revenue generating project, but will be subsidized when it is needed.

4. Transferring of design rights conducted by the Ministry of Transport to the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government

5. Re-affirmation of how fund is channeled (fund channeling) to anticipate future regulations change such as the planned change about the regulations that allow the channeling of international grant to the local government

6. Confirm the role of PT MRT Jakarta, as MRT Company, suggested by the JBIC study to construct, operate, and maintain the infrastructure and facilities of the MRT Projects.

 

In the national level, parties involved are Ministry of Finance (MOF) as the loan administrator, Ministry of Transport (MOT) the sectoral agency in charge of transportation, BAPPENAS and Coordinating Ministry for Economic Development. Therefore the need to harmonize the steps is needed for the future for all bodies.

 

The MRT Project is unique in terms of how the roles between national government and local government is divided to develop an internationally financed rail infrastructure project. Unlike toll-roads development which already highly regulated and “mature” in terms of experience, especially with the establishment of BPJT (Toll-Road Development Coordination Board) at the national level. Railway development, or in this case, urban-railway development in still new.  The concepts of national and local government partnerships in the railway development will be modeled by the development of MRT Jakarta. 

The need for presidential decree is also based on the successful development of MRT in Delhi India (DMRC) with the full support by Indian President.