Rapid Railway Line to Built in West Java by 2011 Pikiran Rakyat (Thoughts of the People) Newspaper Online December 1, 2009 Translation from Indonesian by Dario Navarro, Esq., Attorney at Law
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA (PR) ─ Fifteen investors agreed to finance the construction of a rapid speed hydrogen railway worth 3 billion US dollars (about
28.5 trillion Indonesian rupiahs) called the Project Hydrogen Hi-Speed Rail Super Highway (H2RSH) Concession. This will open the 357-kilometer route along the Jakarta-Bandung-Cirebon corridor.
“The speed of this train will reach 400 kilometers per hour, so a journey that usually takes five hours will be shortened to just one hour,” said Dr. E. Sjahrial, Senior Managing Partner of Caedz, LLC, a member of the consortium, after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the project at Hotel Marriott, Putrajaya, Malaysia on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.
***** According to Sjahrial, financing for this project will come solely from a consortium of private investors. “We expect the construction of this railway to be completed in April 2011 and, ten months after that, it will be in use by the community. This service will provide the people with a new system of mass transportation by 2012 at the latest,” he said.
The tariff that passengers will have to pay to take the new train, continued Sjahrial, will not be much different than bus fare on the same route. “We believe that we can charge such a low rate and still earn a sufficient profit margin. Moreover, we will be able to develop additional revenue by selling energy generated by the train system to third parties,” he said.
There are seven such sources of additional revenue for the consortium, namely, cash flow from [1] telecommunication networks, [2] fiber optics, [3] hydrogen fuel networks, [4] gas networks, [5] water, [6] the sale of electricity generated from hydrogen fuel and [7] solar panels.
Sjahrial estimated optimistically that this project could earn profits of up to 400 million US dollars a year. “In this project, expenditures are expected to total 3 billion US dollars with income of 400 million per year. Compared to other investments of this scale, I believe that this project offers greater earnings certainty.
Moreover, according to Sjahrial, an investment of $3 billion dollars in the 357kilometer railway network should actually be considered very cheap when compared to the cost of building a conventional railway network that could cost ten times more.
“On the other hand, this project is the world’s first commercial hydrogen railway. So, now the eyes of the world are on this project and the world is waiting for its realization. Some countries have considered changing their transportation systems to become more environmentally friendly like this new train system,” he said.
Additional evidence that the new train project has attracted the world’s attention can also be seen in the plan of United States President Barack Obama to make an official announcement about this project during his visit to Indonesia in February 2010 in conjunction with the High Level Meeting on Climate Change.
In addition to building a railway line, the consortium also plans to build other infrastructure projects in the Jakarta-Bandung-Cirebon corridor. “We have a pledge of 500 billion US dollars from 400 banks and international financial institutions in connection with the construction of the proposed new Kertajati Airport, the Port of Cirebon improvements and other infrastructure projects,” he said.
Fifteenth members of the consortium consists of: Aon Risk Services Inc., Aqua-PhyD Inc., Aruna Solutions, Asian Energy Limited, Tricap Group, Copernicus International, eCompass Group, Fidelity National Financial, Global Green Management, McGladry & Pullen, Modular Integrated Technologies, Obermeyer Planen + Beraten, Gemalang Active Coaching, The Interstate Traveler Company, and Turn Geotechnical Research.
Iwan Darmawan Hanafi, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry [Kadin – Singapore Indonesia], said his organization would facilitate communication between the consortium and the government of Indonesia. “Therefore, Mr. Iwa is present at this event because most of the corridor is located in the West Java region,” he said.
He added that the Indonesian government should take seriously and cooperate fully with the consortium. “The consortium is composed of investors from various countries such as the United States, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Singapore and Malaysia. This indicates their confidence to invest in the West Java,” he said.
According to him, the members of consortium asked in the meeting for assurance that investment in this project would go according to plan.
“Moreover, this project will create at least six million new jobs and accelerate the economic development of the West Java region,” he said.
Iwa Kartiwa said it would help to speed up the licensing process so that project participants can obtain the Capital Investment Agreement Letter (SPPM) as rapidly as possible. “We expect them [i.e., the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM)] to issue the SPPM this year and no later than early next year,” he said.
Although the Indonesian government did not have to fund this project, it will still be able to collect taxes from the profits resulting from its operation.
© 2009 - Mind Rakyat Bandung Source: http://newspaper.pikiran-rakyat.com/prprintphp?mib=beritadetail&id=113545 [This article was translated from the original Indonesian as it appears in the foregoing webpage.]