It is full steam ahead for the monorail project following confirmation of financing from a consortium of Dubai banks.

Governor Sutiyoso announced Tuesday a US$500 million loan had been secured to fund the ambitious project.

"Of course there will be some procedures we have to undergo before investors place their full trust in the project," he said.

Sutiyoso made the announcement shortly after returning to the country after a five-day visit to Hong Kong and Dubai to meet a number of partners of the Indonesian Monorail Consortium.

Sutiyoso attended a presentation by a consortium of banks at the Dubai International Financial Center and received confirmation from the banks of financing for Jakarta's first monorail, which was initially to have been completed by October 2007.

"The aim of the visit was to show our support for the monorail project and to attain further funding for the development of the project," he said.

The monorail developer has also joined with insurance company AON International to attract more investors to the project. The technology for the project alone will cost over $496 million.

Sutiyoso said the monorail developer had the funds to keep the project going until the loan was issued.

The monorail developer has signed contracts with a number of companies including state-owned PT Adhi Karya for civil work, PT Bukaka Trans System for rolling stocks, MTRC Hong Kong for project management and services integration and Mac Donald for independent engineers.

When up and running, the monorail will serve the business districts of the city through a 14.3-kilometer line as well as a 13.5-kilometer line from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to shopping mall Mal Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060322.G03