After 26 years, Jakarta to start building MRT system

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The Indonesian capital Jakarta will soon start construction of a metro system to try to unravel its infamous traffic jams, 26 years after the idea was first mooted, officials said Monday.

The city administration and the central government finally agreed last week on how to split the cost, with 49 per cent to be paid by the central government.

The city has spent nearly three decades discussing the merits of different mass transport systems to alleviate congestion in greater Jakarta, home to 20 million people.

Poor infrastructure is one of the main constraints on the growth of Southeast Asia's largest economy, experts say. It was hit by serious floods last week.

One thousand new vehicles hit the roads daily in the capital and it could face complete gridlock as soon as next year unless traffic problems are addressed, according to a study by the private Indonesian Transportation Society.

Jakarta is one of the last major cities in Asia without a metro. Singapore inaugurated one in 1987, Manila in late 1984 and Bangkok in 2004.