Pramono hopes that the MRT Jakarta Kembangan-Balaraja route will be built in 1-2 years.

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government and the Banten Provincial Government have begun to finalize the plan to build the east-west phase 2 of the Jakarta MRT with the Kembangan-Balaraja route. DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung hopes that the MRT line can be built in one to two years.

Pramono expressed this hope when signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Study on the Potential Contribution to the East-West Cross-MRT Development Phase 2 (Kembangan-Balaraja) with PT MRT Jakarta and developers around the route.

Pramono targets that the preparation and maturation process of the project can be completed immediately so that construction can begin in the near future.

"I hope, hopefully in the next 1-2 years it can start construction. If that can be done, brothers and sisters, it will be very good for Jakarta itself, for Banten, and of course for transportation in Indonesia," said Pramono at the DKI Jakarta City Hall, Wednesday, December 4.

He explained, this cooperation makes the development of TOD areas (transit oriented development) no longer a single burden for MRT Jakarta because it will be worked on together with developers. The scheme is expected to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the local government, developers, and MRT operators.

Furthermore, Pramono mentioned the experience of developing the north-south MRT which involved various international institutions and the Ministry of Finance. A similar pattern of cooperation, he said, will be applied to the development of the Kembangan-Balaraja phase 2 MRT, including in the aspects of study and funding.

He also emphasized the large need for mass transportation in the Jakarta agglomeration area and its surroundings. Based on UN data, the number of residents in the Jabodetabek agglomeration area reaches 42 million.

"Almost all of the routes in Jakarta are actually promising, promising to be developed. Why? The agglomeration is already 42 million, this is data from the UN. Jakarta alone is 11 million. People who enter Jakarta every day are 4.5 million, and they need transportation," said Pramono.

Meanwhile, the President Director of PT MRT Jakarta, Tuhiyat, said the east-west line is a strategic corridor that connects residential areas, industrial areas, and new growth centers in Jakarta and Banten.

"This east-west corridor is a very strategic corridor that connects residential areas, industrial areas, and new growth centers in Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, and Banten Province," said Tuhiyat.

According to him, the results of this study are expected to help the Ministry of Transportation in the institutional and financial planning of the east-west cross-phase 2 project along about 30 kilometers from Kembangan to Balaraja.

On the other hand, Banten Governor Andra Soni assessed that this cooperation is a solution for an integrated mass transportation system that has a direct impact on the people of Banten, especially those who are active in Jakarta every day.

"We are directly bordering the capital, and most of our residents work in Jakarta. And then at night they return to Banten, and at these hours there is also traffic jams in our place," said Soni.

Soni hopes that the presence of the east-west MRT can reduce the burden on roads in Jakarta and Banten as well as encourage a change in people's lifestyles towards the use of mass transportation. "When this plan is implemented, hopefully this will reduce the burden on Jakarta roads and Banten roads," he concluded.