Pramono Orders His Men to Speed Up the Demolition of the Monorail Pole in Rasuna Said 

DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung during the symbolic demolition of the monorail pole some time ago / PHOTO: Diah Ayu-VOI

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung asked his staff to accelerate the completion of the demolition of the broken monorail pole that stretches along Jalan HR Rasuna Said, South Jakarta. The initial target, which was completed in September, was asked to be advanced after seeing the progress of work in the field.

Pramono said that acceleration was needed so that the road space and the surrounding area could be immediately rearranged. He assessed that the previous work rhythm was still too slow compared to the need for city planning.

"After seeing the work in the field, I asked for it to be accelerated. If it used to be only one pole a day, I asked not to, if necessary four or five poles a day. And now it has been done," said Pramono at Aryaduta Menteng, Central Jakarta, Friday, February 6.

Pramono explained that currently most of the monorail poles that stand without concrete structures have almost all been cut. The remaining work is the demolition of the part that has merged with concrete, which takes longer.

"For the cutting, it just so happened that I passed by yesterday. What is being done now is that there is concrete so that this concrete will definitely take longer, but the poles are almost all cut," he said.

On the other hand, Pramono also clarified information that was circulating in the community regarding the budget for dismantling the monorail pole. He emphasized that the Rp100 billion cost that was often mentioned was not only for cutting the pole.

The special cost for cutting the monorail pole is only IDR 254 million. Meanwhile, an estimated IDR 102 billion has been allocated for the overall arrangement of the area. The arrangement includes repairing the road body, water channels, sidewalks, parks, public street lighting, and other supporting facilities along Jalan Rasuna Said.

"So, once again, I want to straighten it out, because now there are still those who think that cutting the pole is Rp100 billion. In fact, it's not Rp100 billion in total for the sewer, for the road, the park, the pedestrian, and so on," said Pramono.

It is known that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has begun to carry out the demolition of the old monorail project pillars along Jalan HR Rasuna Said, South Jakarta since Wednesday, January 14. A total of 109 pillars will be removed on the 3.6 kilometer road.

The demolition and arrangement will be carried out at night to minimize traffic disruption. Pramono ensured that no lane closures would take place during the process and had asked the Road Construction Agency and the Transportation Agency to regulate traffic in the area.

"The work will be carried out at night so that there is no closure of the lane," he said.

Pramono added that the completion of the arrangement of the broken monorail pole was carried out with the assistance of the DKI Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office and the KPK to ensure that no legal issues arise later.

"Because at that time I also specifically reported to the KPK so that there would be no problems later," he added.

Segingga, Pramono believes that the demolition of the monorail pole will not violate the law. Although, based on the court's decision, the pole is an asset owned by PT Adhi Karya as the contractor for the monorail project decades ago.

"So, the legal matter is of course with the letter from the DKI Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office, it has actually been completed," he concluded.