Sep 24, 2015
An Indonesian minister said Wednesday that Jakarta will continue with a project to build the first high-speed rail link that will connect the capital and the West Java provincial capital of Bandung, following a revelation earlier this month that the country would drop the plan.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution said he told Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yasuaki Tanizaki in their 2½-hour meeting that “the Indonesian government will continue the high-speed railway project” but has not determined how fast the train would run on the route.
“He asked a lot of questions, including about the speed,” Nasution told reporters, referring to the Japanese envoy. The speed will be determined along with other aspects of the planned construction of the project to be arranged by State Enterprise Minister Rini Soemarno, Nasution said, leaving room for an option of considering a slower-speed train service.
Earlier this month, Nasution revealed that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo decided to drop the project for a high-speed rail link at the speed of 300 kph, adding that he was eying a medium-speed train service for the route at a speed between 200 kph and 250 kph.
The disclosure came when Japan and China were expecting an announcement of the winner of the contract. The two countries were the only bidders for the project.
The decision was based on reasoning that the Jakarta-Bandung link is relatively short at around 150 km, not sufficiently long for a high-speed train to sustain the envisaged top speed of 300 kph. The cost for the slower service would also be significantly lower.
During the meeting with Tanizaki, Nasution also reiterated the Indonesian government’s position that the construction of the railway network system will be designed as a business-to-business cooperation and must be free from state budget funding either directly or indirectly, including a government guarantee.
Tanizaki declined to give any comments, saying he had to report the results of his discussion with Nasution to Tokyo.
Previously, Japan had indicated it would require a government guarantee to build the project, while China is known to be willing to meet the requirements requested by Indonesia.
The Chinese camp has now taken the upper hand, people familiar with the situation said.
Beijing vowed to accept Jakarta’s funding demands when State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno visited China last week, while the Japanese side has difficulty meeting such demands because its proposal chiefly calls for funding by yen loans, which require a repayment guarantee by the Indonesian government, they pointed out.
Source: The Japan Times