Jakarta –
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) talks about the Jakarta-Bandung Fast Train business plan. According to him, the Jakarta-Bandung Fast Train was not created to make a profit, but to serve the public’s transportation needs well.
Initially, when giving information to media crew at Padalarang Station, Bandung, on Monday (2/10), Jokowi was asked whether the High Speed Train project could make a profit or return on investment.
He was also asked whether the tariff, estimated at IDR 250-350 thousand, could make PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC) as the operator profitable. According to him, this matter is all a matter for PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC) as the first fast train operator in Southeast Asia.
“Then ask KCIC, ask KCIC for something like that,” said Jokowi.
Jokowi then said that the most important thing about building a high-speed train is actually service to the community, not a question of profit and loss. He said it was the government’s duty to provide services to the community.
“The most important thing is that people are served well, people are served quickly, because the function of mass transportation is there, not profit and loss,” explained Jokowi.
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project is often in the spotlight. There are many concerns that this project will not provide many benefits for Indonesia. There is even an opinion that even until the end of the world, the Fast Train will not return its investment.
Business expert Rhenald Kasali also previously spoke about this. According to him, what is called a public transportation project is not about profit or loss. In almost all countries, public transportation projects will not be profitable, but all public transportation projects provide full services to the community.
“There are those who say that even until the end of the world, the fast train will not return its investment. A little story, I have been to Europe, and almost everything there has no return on investment,” said Rhenald at the Hub Space 2023 event at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Friday (29/9/2023) ago.
For example, take the train in Switzerland. Rhenald explained that every 3 minutes a train comes to the station. Even on Saturdays and Sundays when residents there are on holiday and spend a lot of time at home, the trains still operate even though there are minimal passengers.
“There are no passengers but it keeps running, it keeps getting better, it keeps getting better. When I read and read, it’s all subsidized. So if the end of the world doesn’t return the investment, we definitely won’t build it. Because public transportation has to be subsidized,” explained Rhenald.
(fdl/fdl)
2023-10-06 22:36:44
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