Two past participants in the Australia-Indonesia Centre Leaders Program have been appointed to lead PT MRT Jakarta, the $1.6 billion Rapid Mass Transit project in Jakarta.
Former Senior Advisor to the Minister on Renewable Energy, Dr William Sabandar, has been appointed President Director of the project. Former member of the Performance Management Unit at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Agung Wicaksono, has been named Director of Operations and Maintenance.
Dr Sabandar addressed the delegates of the Australia-Indonesia Leaders Program ‘Energy, Economic Diplomacy and Innovation’ in May this year, presenting Indonesia’s nine-year energy plan and discussing the future of energy alongside Director of the Monash Sustainability Institute, Professor Rebekah Brown, and Head of Science at the Australian Synchotron, Michael James. Dr Sabandar has also advised researchers in the AIC’s Energy Cluster.
Agung Wicaksono was himself a delegate of the November 2015 Emerging Leaders Program, and presented on ‘Developing Research and Human Resources in the Energy Sector’ at the Indonesia-Australia Research Summit in Surabaya in August this year.
Indonesian news outlets report that Jakarta Governor Ahok appointed the new leadership of PT MRT on October 17, Dr Sabandar and Pak Wiciksono being joined by new Construction Director Silvia Halim and Director of Finance and Administration Tuhiyat.
PT MRT is one of the largest infrastructure projects currently underway in Indonesia, adding over 100kms of rail lines upon completion, which is projected for 2025.
Monash University’s Institute of Rail Technology, headed by AIC Infrastructure Cluster member Ravi Ravitharan, signed an agreement with PT MRT in May to deliver technical assistance, training and professional capacity building to the project.
