Summary The two consortia will build different parts of a six-kilometre underground section of the metro.
JAKARTA (AFP) - Two consortia made up of Japanese and Indonesian firms were selected Thursday to build the first section of Jakarta's long-awaited metro, a key step in efforts to ease chronic traffic jams.
Shimizu-Obayashi-Jaya Konstruksi and Sumitomo-Mitsui-Hutama Karya will begin building the initial phase of the Indonesian capital's first metro system later this year, said Jakarta governor Joko Widodo.
The announcement comes more than 20 years after the idea of a metro was first mooted for the capital of Southeast Asia's biggest economy, which is infamous for its traffic gridlock and threadbare public transport system.
Widodo unveiled the winners of the metro construction contracts next to a busy roundabout in downtown Jakarta during rush hour, with passing buses and cars belching out fumes and honking their horns.
He said he hoped the entire first line of the metro, which includes the section being constructed by the two consortia selected Thursday, would be completed in 2017.
The metro was just one initiative aimed at transforming travel around the city, he said, adding that in the future "like it or not, people will be forced to use public transport".
The two consortia will build different parts of a six-kilometre (3.7-mile) underground section of the metro from the affluent southern suburb of Lebak Bulus to the landmark Hotel Indonesia roundabout in the heart of the city.
Officials finally gave the go-ahead in January for the metro, which will have underground and overground parts, after the city and central governments agreed on how they would share the cost.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has agreed to give a soft loan for the first stage of the project.
Jakarta, home to 27 million people, is one of the last major cities in Asia without a metro. Singapore inaugurated one in 1987, Manila in 1984 and Bangkok in 2004.
