The Government of Indonesia decided to suspend China’s joint high-speed railway project in the country due to incomplete paperwork.

The move came a week after the project’s groundbreaking ceremony on January 21, which Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended.

Indonesian Minister of Transport Ignasius Jonan said the ministry has yet to issue a permit for the project to go ahead, as the company involved has not submitted the required documents.

Visitors taking photos on the exhibition of China high-speed trains in Jakarta, Indonesia (Source: news.cn)

“We are very strict on the project, because this is the first time we are conducting this kind of project, and we are not done with the evaluation,” the ministry said at a House of Representatives hearing.

The railway, spanning from Jakarta to Bandung, has a total investment of 5.5 billion USD. Seventy-five percent of this is covered by loans from the Asian Infrastructure Invesmtent Bank (AIIB). It is expected to start running by 2019 at a top speed of 350 km/h.

(Source: VNA)