Ministerial Counterpoints

When President Joko Widodo broke ground and thereby symbolically indicated the start of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project construction three weeks ago, the required operational licenses still had not been issued. The transportation ministry was reluctant to issue the routing permit because the contracting consortium had demanded a government guarantee. The situation was further complicated when a number of landowners refused to sell their lands on which the tracks would lie. To make matters worse, there were more requests for additional stations to be built along the way.

The obstruction from the transportation authority was not the only one. Finance Minister Bambang P.S. Brodjonegoro made it clear right from the start there would be no financial guarantee from the state on the project. This is why the spotlight is now on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno, who has been the most ardent supporter of what is increasingly a controversial project.