Jakarta. Indonesia has secured a Japanese loan worth up to 140.699 billion yen or approximately $903 million to further extend the Jakarta railway system known as Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).

Indonesia and Japan signed an exchange of notes for the financing on Monday. The loan is coming from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is in charge of overseeing the country’s official development assistance.

The $903 million Japanese loan will mainly go into constructing the 24.5-kilometer line that will run between Bekasi’s Medansatria and West Jakarta’s Tomang. This line is part of the larger yet-to-be-built East-West corridor that seeks to connect Bekasi’s Cikarang and Tangerang’s Balaraja. As part of the agreement, the project will use Japanese technologies

The $903 million loan has a 0.3 percent fixed interest rate. The consulting service part of the project will have a 0.2 percent interest rate per year. Indonesia has 40 years to repay the debt while getting a 10-year grace period. 

“The Indonesian government is planning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony [for the East-West line] this August. But the construction will likely start next year. … Before the actual construction, there are some procedures, including selecting the contractors,” Yasui Takehiro, the chief representative for JICA Indonesia, told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.

“The project will likely be operational by 2031,” Yasui said.

Indonesians today can hop on the MRT to travel from Lebak Bulus to the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout or vice versa -- also thanks to JICA’s loans. The existing tracks are part of the North-South corridor, which will eventually run between Lebak Bulus and North Jakarta’s Ancol. 

The East-West line is a two-phase project. The aforementioned Tomang-Medan Satria line becomes the initial stage of the first phase. The remaining part of the first phase is a 9.2-kilometer track connecting Tomang and Kembangan stations. The second phase will run between Kembangan-Balaraja and Medansatria-Cikarang, spanning 50.4 kilometers.

A part of the $903 million loans will go into making some initial designs and surveys around the stations included in the remaining East-West line, according to the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia.

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