Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan says he is confident about the chances of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system being ready for operation in time for the 2018 Asian Games in August 2018, despite the Transportation Minister saying otherwise.
“God willing the LRT carriages will arrive in April. And then in May to June it will be commissioned and, God willing, July will be the latest that it will operate,” Anies said today, as quoted by Merdeka.
The LRT was initially planned to be a supporting infrastructure for the Asian Games, which is set to be co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang. It is hoped that the construction of the railway in the two cities would be a solution to the city’s’ heavy traffic, particularly for the international athletes and officials who will need to be highly mobile around the city during the games.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya had over the weekend said that he believed the LRT construction in Palembang will be ready by February 2018, but could not say the same about the one in Jakarta LRT, which is lagging behind schedule in the first phase of its construction which links Kelapa Gading to the velodrome in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.
“LRT Jakarta will not be ready for the Asian Games. That is my assessment. I don’t know what the problems are. Maybe it’s about land (procurement),” he said, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
To reconcile the contrasting views and statements between himself and the minister, Anies said that he will be meeting up with Transport Minister officials discuss how they can speed up the construction of the LRT.