Minister Of Transportation Budi Karya Invites Japan To Build Makassar-Parepare Railway

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi invited Japan to build a train in Makassar-Parepare. According to Budi, the government is opening up the possibility to offer cooperation related to the procurement of rolling stock or train inductors.

"We discussed the possibility of cooperation on rolling stock, it requires one supply, so this is what we discussed with Japan," he said in a virtual press conference, Tuesday, September 7.

As is known, Budi Karya is currently on a visit to Japan to meet with a number of ministers and stakeholders. During his visit, Budi discussed the acceleration of a number of infrastructure projects such as the Makassar-Parepare railway, MRT, Patimban Port, and plans to build a proving ground in Bekasi.

Furthermore, Budi said the operation of the Makassar-Parepare train will be realized next year. The train project is being carried out by PT Celebes Railway Indonesia (PT CRI) with PT Indonesia Infrastructure Finance (PII), PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur or SMI (Persero), and PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk. Funding for the train project does not come from the state budget.

"We did discuss a lot of activities, of course, in Java and Makassar-Parepare, of course, we will function next year," he said.

Even so, said Budi, the government did not only ask for support from Japan, but also from other friendly countries. Unfortunately, Budi did not specify which countries Indonesia would cooperate with.

"Of course this is a process, we hope that this will also provide a good color that what we are doing in Makassar-Parepare is also supported by friendly countries," he explained.

For your information, the construction of the Makassar-Parepare railway line itself began in 2015. The project is included in President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). This development includes a 145 kilometer railway line and 23 stations.

The process of laying the groundwork for the construction of the Makassar-Parepare railway was carried out six years ago in August 2014 in Barru District, Barru Regency.