Jakarta. Senior minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan recently revealed that Bali still planned on constructing an underground light rail transit -- popularly abbreviated as LRT -- to ease traffic congestion.

Indonesia has long been wanting to proceed with this project. But the tourist haven has yet to break ground on the transport infrastructure to this day. 

According to Luhut, the plan is still on as President-Elect Prabowo Subianto -- who will assume office this October -- intends to improve Bali's transport system. The government had asked the World Bank to conduct a study on whether linking Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport to other parts of the province is possible. 

“Mr. President-Elect has plans to connect the northern and southern parts of Bali. We are going to have roads, maybe toll roads, but we will see what happens. A study [on that project] is ongoing," Luhut told the International Quality Tourism Conference on Thursday.

“We have requested the World Bank to do a study on an underground LRT [that starts from] Ngurah Rai … and even reaching Sanur, Cemagi,” Luhut said. 

According to media reports, the construction works should begin with the 1A Phase which would have five stations built to connect Ngurah Rai Airport and the tourist-favorite Sunset Road in Kuta. The investment needed for this phase is approximately $876 million. The groundbreaking ceremony for this phase is originally scheduled for next month.

Earlier this year, the government said that it had partnered with South Korea on a feasibility study related to the Bali LRT. The study involves Korea National Railways and uses grant funding from the Korea Exim Bank. 

Indonesia already has a LRT that connects Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi (Jabodebek), although it runs on elevated tracks. In other words, the tracks are above the street level set on an elevated structure. The total costs for the Jabodebek LRT amounted to Rp 32.6 trillion (about $2.1 billion).

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