Visiting The PJ Of The Governor Of DKI, The Minister Of Transportation Bahas LRT To The MRT

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi met with PJ Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi (Photo: Mery/VOI)

Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi visited the DKI Jakarta City Hall office to meet with the Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono today. He arrived in the context of a joint meeting related to mass transportation in the capital city area.

I am very happy that the Governor of DKI took the initiative to implement mass transportation. We do have a target to maximize mass transportation in urban centers. And remember that Jakarta is an example for all of Indonesia," he said after the meeting, at City Hall, Jakarta, Tuesday, February 7.

Budi said, there were three things that became the point of discussion at the meeting. The first is regarding the acceleration of the construction of the Jakarta LRT project.

Furthermore, Budi said the idea of building an LRT project that connects the Velodrome area in East Jakarta, with the Manggarai area is a good step.

The reason, continued Budi, Manggarai is the center of community movement both from outside and within the city.

From Manggarai, passengers between cities can go to Depok to Bogor, to Tangerang and this additional point can be to Kelapa Gading or Pegangsaan. I think this is strategic," he explained.

Budi also appreciated the DKI Provincial Government (Pemprov) for allocating a budget for the Velodrom-Manggarai LRT project.

"Even DKI has allocated funds, and will be completed in approximately 2024, September. I appreciate this because this raises approximately 185,000 passengers," he said.

At this meeting, said Budi, it was also discussed about the MRT Southeast-west project which started from Kembangan, West Jakarta to Medan Satria, Bekasi, West Java. East-west MRT. We discussed the details, indeed, we will build it from Kembangan to Medan Satria, but later it will be connected a little to Bekasi because we need the population. And the Governor already has land apparently in Rorotan," he explained.

Furthermore, Budi said, the meeting also discussed the plan to revitalize Tanah Abang Station. Budi said, this project will later be carried out by three parties, namely the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of PUPR, and the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.

Budi said, the revitalization of Tanah Abang Station will utilize 4 hectares of land belonging to the Ministry of Transportation (ha).

So the Governor asked for it to be used for central stations or replacement stations.

"So from Tanah Abang now we are moving back roughly 500 meters. And there we have a new icon," he said.

Furthermore, Budi explained that the construction of Tanah Abang Station was also carried out by improving the area around the location by creating parks to skywalks.

"In addition to building it, I also ask DKI to improve the surrounding environment. So that we don't see our brothers and sisters coming down in Tanah Abang directly (see) the road, but there are parks, buildings are also good and so on," he explained.

Budi said the Ministry of Transportation supports the DKI Provincial Government's plan regarding mass transportation in the capital city area. He said, Jakarta would become a pilot city for mass transportation for other cities.

"So practically what is proposed or initiated by the Governor is strategic ideas for transportation, we need it because we need role models. And when we invite other cities in Surabaya, Medan, Makassar, Bandung and so on, we have a good mass transportation model role," he said.