26 October 2020

The provincial government of Bali continues to intensify efforts to create a greener Bali. INKA, a state-owned train manufacturing company (BUMN) and Bali Regional Company (Perusda) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday, 23 October 2020. The agreement signifies the development of an integrated electric-powered transportation system on the island of gods.

Director of PT Perusda Bali Province, I Nyoman Kami Artana, explained to the media that after the signing of the MoU, a feasibility study (FS) would be carried out first by PT Inka. “Everything will be outlined in the FS (feasibility study). Whether it will be an electric train, cable car, or what model, PT Inka will do the study first. This is only the signing of the MoU,” said Artana. It will take at least two years for this project to be executed.

Budi Noviantoro as the main director of PT INKA explained that the funding for this project came from foreign loans by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral development finance institution based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The budget plan is around IDR 2.6 trillion and will be used for workshops, manufacturing of battery components and infrastructure.

The Head of the Operations Team for Indonesian Regional Hub at the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), Omar Eddie Davis said that his party is very pleased to help with the financing of various environmentally-friendly transportation development programs worldwide. Omar believes this type of projects will be the solution for environmental sustainability on our planet. “We are very pleased to be able to help develop an environmentally friendly city in Bali – Indonesia, we also had worked together with Malaysia, Brunei, and Africa,” said Omar. 

Meanwhile, The Head of the Bali Provincial Transportation Agency, I Gde Wayan Samsi Gunarta, also has a similar opinion regarding the development of this project, he said that Bali needs an environmentally-friendly transportation to compensate the rampant growth of the tourism industry on the island.

In the future, this environmentally-friendly train project will operate between Denpasar to Sanur and Sanur to Kuta. For Denpasar-Sanur route (South Denpasar district), the route will be about 7 kilometres long; and for Sanur (South Denpasar district) -Kuta, the route is approximately 12 kilometres long. If the plan goes well, then Bali will integrate this public transportation with existed services. Previously, the Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, has officially launched Trans Metro Dewata on 7 September 2020. This public buses are operating in four regencies in Bali, Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan. But due to the pandemic situation, the user of these modern air-conditioned transportation are still very low, though it’s free of charge until December 2020.