High-speed rail construction workers working next to the wagons in Bandung on Oct 4, 2022. - AFP
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Already beset by a ballooning budget and missed deadlines, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project suffers another roadblock as a work train involved with the project careened off the railway, killing two foreign technical workers and injuring several others on Sunday (Dec 18 evening.
PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) corporate secretary Rahadian Ratry confirmed that the incident occurred around 5pm on Sunday in Cempaka Mekar village, Padalarang, West Bandung regency, West Java.
“KCIC has been coordinating with relevant parties in dealing with the incident, and we’ve been cooperating with the authorities’ investigation into the matter,” Rahadian said on Monday.
Formed as a joint venture between a consortium of state-owned enterprises and several Chinese-railroad companies, KCIC is overseeing the construction of the high-speed railway.
“From the latest report, there’s been a total of six victims so far. They include two casualties, two persons who were seriously injured and two others suffering from minor wounds,” said Transportation Ministry spokesman Adita Irawati.
While the ministry did not specify the identities of the victims, Padalarang Police Chief Commissioner Darwan Hasan said the two casualties were Chinese nationals who had been working on the project.
Sunday’s tragedy is the latest in a long list of problems that have plagued the ambitious high-speed railway project. While the government initially set a budget of US$6 billion for the project, Didiek Hartantyo, president director of PT Kereta Api Indonesia, which is part of the KCIC, said in November that the cost had ballooned to the tune of US$7.5 billion.
Originally set to be operational by 2019, problems with land acquisition and the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic meant that the completion date had to be pushed back.
During a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in November, President Joko Widodo set a deadline of June 2023 for the completion of the project.
But, following Sunday’s incident, the Transportation Ministry ordered work on the project to be put on hold pending investigation.
“Once the investigation is finished, we’ll compile a recommendation that could be used as a guideline on how to improve safety on railway-construction projects,” Adita said.
While KCIC earlier said that construction would continue as planned, Rahadian later clarified to the Post that the company would abide by the ministry’s instructions.
Transportation observer Aditya Dwi Laksana of the Indonesian Transportation Society said a deadline extension was necessary in this case.
“In my opinion, (this incident) stems from the fact that (KCIC) is desperately trying to meet the June 2023 deadline,” he said.
Aditya cited other past incidents, including a pillar that fell on top of an excavator in December 2021, as evidence that KCIC had been overlooking safety procedures to speed up work on the project.
Despite these setbacks, however, the government has revealed their ambition to extend the high-speed railway all the way to Surabaya, East Java.
While the longer distance could make better use of the high-speed train compared to the short current route, Mr Aditya warned the government against overextending itself.
