Japan says it remains committed to help in the infrastructure development of the Greater Jakarta area — a project that is known as the Metropolitan Priority Area.
High-ranking Japanese government officials met with Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Hatta Rajasa on Friday to discuss the MPA, of which in 2011 there were 45 projects worth a total of US$24 billion.
“In principle, we agreed that infrastructure development is important for Indonesia, and Japan is ready to help particularly regarding technologies,” said Akihiro Ota, Japanese Minister for Land,
Transportation, Infrastructure and Tourism.
Rajasa said that 5 flagship projects under the MPA would start in 2014.
The projects are: Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit, construction of the Cilamaya port in West Java and Jakarta waste treatment facilities, expansion of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, and building the Jakarta-Surabaya bullet train.
Hatta said the flagship projects are scheduled to be completed by 2020. “With Japan's assistance, we want to accelerate infrastructure development,” he said.
“We want for the MRT not only to reach Bundaran Hotel Indonesia [a giant roundabout in Central Jakarta] as it would bring less benefit. We want the MRT to also cover [other areas] Kota, Balaraja and Manggarai.”
Kota is in Central Jakarta, Balaraja is in Banten province, and Manggarai is in East Jakarta.
The cooperation would involve $19 billion in investments to develop roads, train access, power plants, water plants, and seaports for the Jakarta area, which encompasses the capital and the outlying cities of Bogor, Depok, Tanggerang, and Bekasi.