President Joko Widodo received on Friday at the State Palace former Japanese prime minister (PM) Yasuo Fukuda, now chairman of the Japan Indonesia Association for Economy Cooperation, to discuss four infrastructure projects that involve the Japanese government.

The four projects are the Jakarta-Surabaya semi high-speed railway, Patimban Port in West Java, the Padang-Pekanbaru highway tunnel and the second phase of the Jakarta MRT, or the east-west corridor.

“This meeting is a follow-up to the visits of the Japanese Prime Minister’s special envoy, Hiroto Izumi, in September and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) president Shinichi Kitaoka in July,” said Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono after the meeting.

“The purpose of the meeting is to reaffirm that the project will be executed quickly,” he added.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that the final recommendation for the Jakarta-Surabaya railway project would be made by JICA and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) in November.

The government had decided to use the existing railway tracks for the project for reasons of cost efficiency. “Based on the BPPT’s latest calculations, the project costs Rp 62 trillion (US$4.55 billion). If we develop new tracks, the cost would be Rp 100 trillion,” Budi said.

The meeting also discussed the Masela oil and gas block as a follow-up to a detailed discussion earlier, when the Japanese delegation met Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan.

source: thejakartapost.com