Faisal Basri Calls Fast Trains Only Facilitating Big Snap Businesses, The Lippo Group Meikarta Project Owned By Conglomerate Mochtar Riady Is One Of Them

Economist Faisal Basri (Photo: screenshot of Akbar Faisal's Youtube)

JAKARTA - Senior economist Faisal Basri again revealed interesting facts about the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project. In his view, this mega-project under President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has many irregularities.

One of the things he put forward was the plan to build a number of stopping stations which were deemed inappropriate for a concept of this modern mode of transportation.

"The fast train is to compete with planes whose airports are outside the city. So the station should be in the middle of the city, and we can see this in London, Paris, and Tokyo which are in the middle of the city and that's the advantage. So, we can save travel time to the airport, which can take two hours to go back and forth," he said while speaking on Akbar Faizal's virtual channel, quoted Monday, December 27.

According to Faisal Basri, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project initially had stations at Halim, Karawang, and then to Gedebage. Then, this route was changed to Halim, Karawang, Tegalluar, and Padalarang.

“So it doesn't stop in the middle of Bandung City and ends up being slower than private vehicles, even planes. Because, this plane itself can land at Husein Sastranegara Airport which is in the middle of the city. So I'm sure this is not a transportation project," he said.

Furthermore, the University of Indonesia academic also provided his analysis of the government's decision to designate a non-strategic area as a stopping point for the high-speed train.

“This is a property project, such as in Tegalluar there is a large property, in Walini there is a project that will be developed for tourism. So it's not purely a fast train," he said.

One thing that is interesting is that Faisal mentioned the stop station in Karawang which is connected with the existence of the most ambitious property project in Indonesia, Meikarta.

"I got information from a minister, who I don't want to be named, that it is speculation that the land (in the location around the station) is already controlled by a large property company. Now they are a little confused because Walini has not yet been built. Meanwhile, in Karawang, there is Lippo and Meikarta, and Lippo is one of the supporters (of the government) who is very big," he explained.

For information, Lippo is a business group founded by veteran conglomerate Mochtar Riady. This corporation has penetrated various business lines, ranging from retail, telecommunications, financial services, to property.

One of Lippo's phenomenal works in the housing sector is the plan to build an integrated independent township Meikarta in Karawang, West Java.

"Yes, it's like facilitating, because the argument for developing a high-speed train from a transportation perspective is not included," said Faisal Basri.