To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Bagus Indahono/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Indonesian President Joko Widodo gestures as he delivers his annual State of the Nation Address, ahead of the country’s Independence Day, in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 16, 2024.
Reuters
17:00 JST, September 11, 2024
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo launched construction on Wednesday for a new line on Jakarta’s mass rapid transit (MRT) system, funded by a loan of nearly $1 billion from Japan, in a bid to alleviate traffic congestion.
Sometimes paralysed by some of the world’s worst traffic jams, Jakarta is home to more than 10 million, but three times the number live in surrounding towns, and it launched its first MRT line in 2019.
Expected to be completed by 2031, the new line will run 25 km (15 miles) between the city of Bekasi, on Jakarta’s eastern border, to its west, Widodo said in a statement.
“The first line has transformed the face of Jakarta and Indonesia’s transport,” Widodo said, adding that the new line promised further benefits.
In May, the Japan International Co-operation Agency said it was providing a loan of 141 million yen ($998,000) for the project.
A JICA loan also funded the first MRT link, spanning 8 km (5 miles) between south and central Jakarta. Work to extend it further north is expected to be completed by 2029, seven years after it began.
