Train Nationalism: Ministry Refuses to Import Japan's Secondhand Trains

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Commuter line system in Indonesia (KRL) is a highly popular transportation choice for the people in the Greater Jakarta which consists of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi area (Jabodetabek). During the height of COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, around 300,000 people still chose KRL every day.

It's not difficult to understand the commuter trains' popularity. The traffic jam in Jakarta is internationally infamous, and KRL can save time and energy for the public to reach their destinations. 

The train sets that Indonesia is using are secondhand train sets from Japan, operated by Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI), a subsidiary of the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises.

Now KCI is facing difficulty to import 10 trains to replace the old ones. Problem arises because the Ministry of Industry demands KCI to buy train sets from the Industri Kereta Api (INKA), another state-owned enterprise.

The Ministry of Industry argues that such policy will support the national products. 

"Why must we import secondhand trains from Japan? One said to be proud of the Indonesian-made. Bangladesh even buys our trains for up to Rp1,3 trillion," said Secretary General of Ministry of Industry, Dody Widodo, on Monday.

Dody realizes that it is going to be difficult to switch train products, but he believes that can be handled with a proper planning.

"After all, we have to be proud of the domestic industry. This must be really implemented through the actions in the decision-making," Dody remarked.

Ministry for State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, said on Tuesday that the imports of Japanese trains should be done immediately, so the passengers will not be impacted from delays.

Erick believes that the disagreement from the Ministry of Industry can be solved.

"The problem here is there has been no communication. But Insya Allah, I believe there will be mutual support," said Erick.

Previously, VP Corporate Secretary of KCI, Anne Purba, has expressed her support for INKA products, but she argued that the import of the 10 Japanese trainsets are necessary to make sure the number of existing trains will not decrease.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Transportation also shows the support to import the "not new" trains from Japan. Their rationale is that the production for INKA trains will require up to 3 years.

"The service of the not new KRL is a wise choice according to us, while waiting for the production process from INKA is finished," said the spokeperson of Ministry of Transporation, Adita Irawati.

Maulandy Rizki Bayu Kencana contributed to this report.