MPTC moves forward with elevated Jakarta toll road project

METRO PACIFIC Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is advancing plans to build an elevated toll road along the Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR), with the company currently in the financial proposal phase of the project.

“As far as I know, we are in a financial proposal phase. It has been going on for a bit,” MPTC President and Chief Executive Officer Gilbert F. Santa Maria said at a recent media briefing. He was referring to the Jakarta Outer Ring Road project in Indonesia.

Last year, MPTC, through its unit PT Margautama Nusantara (MUN), said it would allocate P80 billion to construct a 21-kilometer elevated toll road along JORR.

JORR is a 65-kilometer toll ring road in Jakarta divided into sections, Mr. Santa Maria said, adding that the full stretch of the ring road carries about 560,000 vehicles daily.

The new project, to be developed by MPTC’s unit in Indonesia, will be known as the JORR Elevated Toll Road and will extend from Jatiasih in East Jakarta to Ulujami in South Jakarta.

“For the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, we have one section of it right now. Different people own it, and different sections of it. It is one revenue pool and then we just share depending on how many kilometers we have. The share of revenue is under discussion, it is something that is in the cards now,” Mr. Santa Maria said.

Last year, the company said construction of the elevated tollway was expected to take three to four years to complete.

The project is anticipated to ease traffic congestion along JORR, which forms part of the Trans-Java toll road network.

MPTC, together with its subsidiaries and Singapore’s GIC Pte. Ltd., a global institutional investor, had finalized a $1-billion investment cooperation for the acquisition of a 35% stake in PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol (JTT), a major toll road operator in Indonesia.

PT Nusantara Infrastructure, which owns infrastructure concessions in both western and eastern Indonesia, operates businesses across transportation, toll roads, communications, and distribution networks.

MPTC is the tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., alongside Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund’s MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., holds a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose