TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - JAKARTA – The head of Financial and Asset Management of Jakarta, Heru Budihartono, said that the delay or land acquisition process for the capital’s mass rapid transit (MRT) project has caused the budget for the project to increase by Rp500 billion. “It can be higher,” he said on Thursday.

The increased budget is attributable to the lingering land acquisition process around Jl. Fatmawati, South Jakarta. Another factor is that the tender for the dismantling of Lebak Bulus Stadium had yet to conclude as the city government only offered Rp6.65 billion for the project—a figure deemed too low by many.

The city government has reduced the standards for the project to lure more participants for the tender. Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said land acquisition carried out by hiring independent appraisers had been to no avail, and that his administration had turned to district courts for a consignation scheme as a last resort.

“It should be completed this year,” he said. PT MRT president director Dono Boestami explained the amount of land that had not been acquired yet for the project was relatively small. He also guaranteed that the land acquisition on Jl. Fatmawati would not stymie the MRT project—as 75-80 percent of land where the project took place belonged to the state.

He added the MRT construction would be carried out simultaneously and that the means of transport would kick off operation in 2017.

LINDA HAIRANI