TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Five Indonesian cities have received grants for Sustainable Urban Transport Program Indonesia (Sutri Nama) project and components of the Indonesian Bus Rapid Transit or BRT Corridor Development Project (Indobus) from the governments of Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Germany.

The cities eligible for the grant of €21 million or Rp326 billion are Semarang, Bandung, Makassar, Batam, and Pekanbaru.

Land Transportation Director-General Budi Setiyadi explained the fund will be disbursed to support the development of bus rapid transit. “The fund worth €21 million will be divided for the five cities. Each will get the fund based on their needs for the DED (Detail Engineering Design)," said Budi in Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jakarta, Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Budi explained the project is part of the partnership of Transportation Ministry and Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The memorandum of understanding was inked in 2017.

Senior Advisor of Governance Policy at GIZ, Zulasmi, said that most of the fund will be used to finance the study on the development of BRT, while the remaining will be used to build the bus lanes.

“The study in the regional administration level takes a long time because they will redesign the existing bus routes,” he added.

Based on the design, the development project will meet for completion in 2022. Should the project is finished and successful, Zulasmi said the Germany government is interested to provide loans.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA