Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said that the project will cost IDR 500bn (USD 41M), and the state firm would be given 14 months to complete the work.
"The 1.27km tunnel with a capacity of at least 60cu.m of water per second can lessen the load of the Ciliwung River, which annually overflows and causes flooding," he said.
The project will start in densely populated neighborhoods on Jl. Sensus Raya and Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Statistik on Jl. Otto Iskandardinata in East Jakarta.
Djoko said the city administration would be charged with relocating residents affected by the project.
The head of Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers’ control office at the ministry, T. Iskandar, said relocations would begin during the second phase of the project.
Djoko said the contract inked covered the first phase of construction. "We will begin the second phase, comprising building inlet, outlet and normalizing Cipinang River after the first phase is finished," he said, adding that the ministry expected to start the second phase this year (2014).
"If we get additional funds mid-year and the tender process can start immediately, we can do it," he said.
Djoko hoped that WIKA would start and finish the project on time.
"So far, we have been ahead of schedule during the preparation and bidding stages," he said.
The city administration has prepared several low-cost apartments near the Ciliwung River to relocate roughly two thousands families.
WIKA director Budi Harto claimed that the construction would not severely affect traffic.
"Pipe jacking will be used," he said, explaining that pipe jacking is a pipes and casing installation method that does not use trenches; thus, the contractor would not need to dig up the whole tunnel but only a few spots.
"We only need a small plot of land in the middle of Jl. Otto Iskandardinata," he said.
Budi said the concrete pipe would be provided by a WIKA subsidiary while the drilling tools would be sent from Japan in March.
