Basuki said that the administration was working with operator PT MRT Jakarta – the company overseeing the project to build the capital’s first rail-based system – to prepare the necessary paperwork and to check on the legal umbrella for construction.
"We are currently preparing everything. The Regional Finance Management Board (BPKD) is also preparing the financial aspect to estimate how much money needs to be disbursed between the announcement and the contract’s completion," Basuki explained. "Possibly by the end of the month we will be able to announce the winner."
Jakarta’s deputy governor said that once the contract was signed, authorities would decide on a plan to prevent more congestion along the construction sites. Basuki said that one of the possibilities was to divert traffic or alternate between opening and closing a road.
"We have to sign a contract, then we will decide on the detail, how to open or close road, how to overcome the congestion," he said.
The first phase of the project, a line from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle, will run 15.2km and is expected to be operating by November 2016.
A second phase, running 8.1km from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout to Kampung Bandan station in North Jakarta, is expected to be completed by 2018.
The MRT will cut through the city’s key business districts along Jalan Sudirman and Jalan Thamrin and will run on a combination of elevated and underground tracks to minimise disruption to road traffic.
