Indonesia to start high-speed railway project after permissions completed

Senior officials overseeing Indonesia's first High Speed Railway (HSR) said on Thursday that the project would continue and "commence as soon as possible" after the remaining permissions were settled.

Sahala Lumban Gaol, president director of Indonesian partner PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN, said the project was an implementation of Presidential Decree No. 107/2015 that orders the acceleration of HSR project linking Jakarta to Bandung, capital of West Java province.

"We will commence the project soon after we get the construction permission issued by the Transportation Ministry. We will always abide by the existing law to carry out the project," Sahala told a press conference.

Besides the construction permission, the Indonesian partner is also waiting for the completion of processes with related ministries to issue license on concession period for the HSR organizer and business license, he added.

Sahala said the project had already pocketed three permissions, among other spatial usage to expand the development of Walini in West Bandung to an advanced tourism destination in the country.

Those three permissions were enough to officiate groundbreaking of the project which was presided by President Joko Widodo in Walini tea plantation with the presence of Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong on Jan. 21.

According to Sahala, President Widodo has repeatedly advised those involved in the project to uphold the existing law in carrying out the project.

Sahala said the project is urgently needed to spur growth alongside the corridor passed through by the HSR. A plan to develop Walini as an ultimate tourist destination has been devised besides construction of theme parks.

The claims by Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan that the Indonesia-China joint venture firm for the Jakarta-Bandung HSR, PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), is yet to have sufficient licenses to carry out the project, have buzzed national media.

KCIC President Director Hanggoro Budi Wiryawan said at the press conference that permissions needed to be settled first in order to complete the project as scheduled.

"After all of the permissions are settled, the construction works would be accelerated so as to make the project finish on schedule," Hanggoro said, adding that the 142-km Jakarta-Bandung train project was expected to finish in late 2018 and begin operation in early 2019.

Indonesia and China state-run firm consortiums won a bidding in October last year to carry out the HSR project purely on business- to-business scheme without state budget.

The KCIC, with 60 percent of its shares controlled by the Indonesian partner, would operate the railway. The Transportation Ministry is weighing a 50-year operation concession for KCIC before it has to hand over the HSR to the government.