MRT says construction will employ thousands
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta – 11/02/2011
Jakarta’s planned mass rapid transit (MRT) system operator PT MRT says the new system will create thousands of new jobs and reduce speed travel through the city’s downtown.
“Our assessment shows that during the construction stage alone, we might hire more than 48,000 workers,” PT MRT spokesman Manpalagupta Sitorus told reporters on Thursday.
He said that some would be hired as laborers, others would be employed in subsidiary businesses such as sand collection and cement companies and more would work as support personnel such as canteen attendants.
The city government said on Wednesday that the first casualty of the MRT project would be the Lebak Bulus soccer stadium in South Jakarta, which would be converted into the MRT network’s main terminal.
Work on the first phase of the 15.5-kilometer system — the route linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta — would start later this year be completed by 2016, according to the city.
The system will be comprised of six underground stations serving 5 kilometers of the system and seven above-ground stations running along 10.5 kilometers.
The six underground stations will be located at the Al-Azhar Mosque, Istora Senayan, Bendungan Hilir, Setiabudi, Dukuh Atas and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
The seven above-ground stations will be in Lebak Bulus, Fatmawati, Cipete Raya, Jl. H. Nawi, Blok A, Blok M and Jl. Sisingamangaraja.
The city also plans to launch a second 8.1 kilometer-long MRT line running between the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and Kampung Bandan, North Jakarta, by 2018.
The cost of the MRT is expected to reach Rp 15 trillion (US$ 1.6 billion).
The city administration is currently waiting for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to approve the basic engineering design of the MRT.
JICA has agreed to finance 85 percent of the MRT through a loan of about $1.3 billion. The remainder will be covered by the central government and the Jakarta Administration.
City Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) head Sarwo Handayani said on Wednesday that PT MRT would soon be able to proceed construction project after JICA signed off.
“The next step after it is approved is that we can start pre-qualification for the documents of tender,” Sarwo said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com news portal.
PT MRT also said on Thursday that the system would improve travel times in downtown Jakarta, reducing, for example, the time needed to go from Lebak Bulus to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to 30 minutes, down from 2 hours.
A trip from Lebak Bulus to Kampung Bandan would only take 52.5 minutes, according to the company
The first MRT line connecting Lebak Bulus and Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle, is expected to be able to carry 412,000 passengers a day.
Studies also shows that the MRT would cut carbon emissions in the city.
The MRT would reduce Jakarta’s carbon dioxide emissions by 0.7 percent, or 93.663 tons per year, according to reports.