Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Indonesia's delayed China-funded rail project beset by
fresh problems (1/2)
Tue, June 6, 2023 at 10:06 p.m. PDT
By Stefanno Sulaiman
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's transport ministry and three
consultants have pushed back on a China-funded consortium's plan to start full
commercial operations of the country's $7.3 billion first high-speed train
service in August, an internal document shows.
A flagship project of President Joko Widodo - and part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - the 142 km (88 miles) line from capital Jakarta to the large city of Bandung being built by a consortium of Indonesian and Chinese state firms is already $1.2 billion over the initial budget and four years behind schedule.
A smooth opening of the railway line, the most high-profile BRI project in Southeast Asia's largest economy, as part of Independence Day celebrations would be a shot in the arm for its ruling party ahead of a general election next year, analysts said.
"A further delay will only become ammunition for the opposition to attack," said Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations analyst at Padjadjaran University, adding that setbacks would taint China's credibility to develop and deliver big projects in the region.
Months before its proposed commercial launch in August, the showpiece project is beset by fresh problems, with the consortium's Chinese participants wanting a full operational worthiness certificate for the line despite an incomplete station, a 48-page presentation reviewed by Reuters shows.
Instead, the transport ministry and consultants Mott MacDonald, PwC and local law firm Umbra have suggested that full-fledged commercial operations could start in January 2024, the "Progress Update" report dated May 14 shows.
"There is a risk that the target of commercial operations in August could be delayed to complete all construction by December 31," said the report, written in the local language.
Financial restructuring at PT Wijaya Karya Tbk (WIKA) - an Indonesian state-owned construction firm with an indirect minority stake in the consortium - is also hitting the working capital needs of the project, which has already accumulated at least $381.75 million in outstanding payments, another internal document shows.
WIKA corporate secretary Mahendra Vijaya said the company had the financial capacity to finish the remaining work, but it also needed the consortium to pay it for work already done.
Indonesia is negotiating with China on an additional $560 million loan and asking for an interest rate of 2.8% for the portion of the loan in yuan, which is lower than the China Development Bank (CDB) offer of 3.46%, according to a second set of documents dated May 18.
The possibility of a further delay and other details in the two documents have not been previously reported.
Septian Hario Seto, a senior official with the investment coordinating ministry, said debt negotiations were underway with CDB, focused on the interest rate.
The railway plans to begin a free trial with passengers in mid-August, with paid trips expected in September and the incomplete station likely finished by November, he added.
PwC declined to comment. China-backed consortium PT KCIC, Mott MacDonald, Umbra, CDB and China's embassy in Jakarta did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
(to be continued)
Translation
雅加達（路透社） - 一份內部文件顯示，印尼交通運輸部和三名顧問已經推遲了中國資助財團計劃於
8 月份開始該國耗資
73 億美元的首條高速列車服務全面商業運營的計劃。
作為佐科·維多多總統的旗艦項目，也是中國一帶一路倡議 (BRI) 的一部分，由印尼和中國國有企業組成的財團建造的從首都雅加達到大城市萬隆的 142 公里（88 英里）線路已經比最初預算高出 12 億美元，又比原計劃晚了四年。
分析人士表示，它是東南亞最大經濟體最引人注目的 “一帶一路” 項目，作為獨立日慶祝活動的一部分，該鐵路線的順利開通將為其執政黨在明年大選前註入一劑強心劑。
Padjadjaran University 國際關係分析師 Teuku Rezasyah表示： “進一步的拖延只會成為反對派攻擊的彈藥” 。他補充說，挫折將損害中國在該地區開發和交付大型項目的信譽。
路透社審閱的一份長達 48 頁的介紹文稿顯示，在距離計劃於 8 月份投入商業運行之前幾個月，該成功示範例子項目遇到了新的問題，儘管車站尚未完工，但該財團的中國參與者仍希望獲得該線路的全面運營價值證書。
相反，5 月 14 日的 “進展更新” 報告顯示，交通運輸部和顧問Mott MacDonald、PwC 和當地律師事務所 Umbra 建議，全面的商業運營可能會在 2024 年 1 月開始。
這份用當地語言撰寫的報告稱， “8月份的商業運營目標可能會被推遲，以便在12月31日之前完成所有建設” 。
另一份內部文件顯示, 間接持有該財團少數股權的一間印尼國有建築公司 PT Wijaya Karya Tbk (WIKA)的財務重組也滿足了該項目的營運資金需求，該項目已令它累計拖欠至少 3.8175 億美元。
WIKA 公司秘書 Mahendra Vijaya 表示，該公司有財力完成剩餘工作，但也需要財團為其已完成的工作支付費用。
日期為 5 月 18 日的第二套文件稱，印尼正在與中國就額外 5.6 億美元貸款進行談判，並要求人民幣貸款部分的利率為 2.8%，低於中國國家開發銀行 (CDB) 3.46% 的報價。
在此之前, 兩份文件中有關進一步推遲的可能性和其他細節, 未曾被報導過。
投資協調部高級官員 Septian Hario Seto 表示，正在與國家開發銀行進行債務談判，重點是利率。
他補充說，鐵路計劃於 8 月中旬開始對乘客進行免費試運行，預計 9 月提供付費旅行，未完工的車站可能會在 11 月完成。
PwC拒絕置評。 中國支持的財團 PT KCIC、Mott MacDonald、Umbra、CDB 和中國駐雅加達大使館沒有立即回應置評請求。
（待續）
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