Jakarta – Jakarta city authorities on Monday started the construction of a 600-million-dollar monorail project aimed at easing the Indonesian capital's gridlock traffic and chronic pollution.

In a groundbreaking ceremony, President Megawati Soekarnoputri touched a siren, marking the beginning of the lucrative 27-kilometre project that will be comprise of a "green line" and a "blue line".

"Today, the groundbreaking of the monorail project is launched. God willing, if all planning and schedules run well, by 2006 the monorail will be in operation," Megawati said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The elevated rail project, which includes two tracks, will serve Jakarta's metro and suburban areas, with a planned expansion into the greater Jakarta area in the future.

The green line will circle 14.3 kilometres around the city centre's "Golden Triangle" area, while the 12.7-kilometre blue line will circle from Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta to Roxy in West Jakarta, officials said.

The Jakarta's city government signed on May 14 an agreement with PT. Indonesia Transit Central (ITC), which groups Indonesian investors and the Omnico Consortium, a foreign-backed consortium, to build a 600-million-dollar project.

Under the authorization agreement, the Indonesian and foreign investors will be granted the license to build and operate the Jakarta monorail for a period of 40 years.

Officials estimated that the operators would break even within nine years of operation.

Jakarta Governor Sutijoso said previously that the monorail would be able to carry 10,000 to 30,000 passengers per hour, with a cost up to between Rp3,500 (38 cents) to Rp7,500 (83 cents) per person, depending on the distance traveled.