JAKARTA: Indonesia kicked off construction of its first fast-train railway line on Thursday amid concerns over the environmental and safety aspects of one of the country's biggest infrastructure projects.
The $5.5 billion link between Jakarta and Bandung to the southeast is a flagship project for President Joko Widodo, whose infrastructure investment plans have floundered in red tape and an economy growing at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis.
The central government has in recent months tried to slash bureaucracy and restore investor confidence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy through a series of stimulus measures.
But its insistence on breaking ground as soon as possible on the 150-km (100 mile) rail line has raised concerns that economic development may be coming at the expense of the environment and safety.
"What's most important is to mitigate the risk of disasters (like landslides)," San Afri Awang, an official at the environment ministry, told Kompas newspaper on Wednesday.
"If that hasn't been sorted out, then we don't want to proceed carelessly. We must maintain quality."
Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya said the government would invite public opinion on the project even as construction got under way.
"The principles of proper governance will be followed, but the policy of building railways must also go ahead," Nurbaya told reporters.
An executive of a company involved in building the railway said environmental and safety issues had been addressed.
"It's already done," Bintang Perbowo, CEO of Wijaya Karya , told reporters. "It's impossible that the president would inaugurate it if not."
Indonesia awarded the project to China last year after a contentious race with Japan, which was also vying for what analysts say could be the first of many rail lines of its kind in the region.
The high-profile contract was a victory in Southeast Asia for Chinese President Xi Jinping's "One Belt One Road" initiative to build a network of ports, trains and expressways to help expand trade, investment and influence in the region.
The Chinese-led consortium hopes to finish the Jakarta-Bandung line by 2019.
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