City-owned project operator PT MRT is also still in negotiations to purchase land in Lebak Bulus, Cipete, Haji Nawi, Blok A and Blok M, in which they plan to construct replacement roads. According to initial plans, meanwhile, the land should have been acquired in February-March 2014.
PT MRT director Dono Boestami said these acquisition problems could hamper the construction of the MRT project. "There is no problem so far, but they will become problems if not completed in a month or two," he said on 3 June in a meeting with acting Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
The meeting was attended by Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) chief Andi Baso Mappapoleonro; Youth and Sports Agency chief Ratiyono; Transportation Agency chief Muhammad Akbar; and representatives from the Public Works Agency and the Jakarta Financial Management Body.
The stadium at Lebak Bulus terminal, where a train depot is planned to be built, has not been torn down either as there is no winner yet in the tender to demolish the building.
Dono said land acquisition issues are part of the responsibility of the Jakarta administration, the Public Works Agency, the Transportation Agency, the Youth and Sports Agency and the Jakarta Financial Management Body.
He said the funds to finance the project would be increased should the construction of the MRT project be postponed. But he added the additional funds could only be calculated near the end of the project’s deadline of completion in 2018.
