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etails have started to emerge about the new stadium that would replace the Lebak Bulus stadium, which would soon be demolished for the construction of a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station.

City Sports Agency head Ratiyono said on Thursday that the agency was now zeroing in on three locations in South Jakarta where the new stadium would be constructed.

“We are conducting assessments on three locations, two on Jl. T.B. Simatupang and one on Jl. Ampera,” Ratiyono told reporters.

Ratiyono declined, however, to disclose the budget amount earmarked for the construction of the new 4.4 hectare stadium. He said that the budget would be conditional based on the price of land agreed upon by the city and landowners affected by the stadium’s construction.

He also said sporting activities would not be suspended in the period leading to the stadium’s demolition. Once the project commenced all sporting events and training for athletes would be transferred to other stadiums in the city, he added.

The Sports Agency also pledged that no employees would be laid off after the stadium was demolished.

“We have so many recreational and sports centers in the city and the employees could be hired again to work in these facilities,” he said.

Lebak Bulus stadium currently employed 60 staffers, some of whom are contract workers.

Ratiyono also dismissed suggestions that the city has been involved in wasteful spending by earmarking Rp 10 billion (US$1.11 million) for renovating the stadium’s swimming pool.

The pool renovation work is expected to be completed next month.

The city government also spent Rp 2 billion for refurbishing the stadium’s seats in 2009.

The budget for the Lebak Bulus renovations was submitted long before the MRT plan came up, Ratiyono said.

“But once the renovations are complete, we will use it until the demolition starts,” he said.

The city government has decided to tear down Lebak Bulus stadium to make way for the construction of an MRT terminal.

The decision to demolish Lebak Bulus stadium came after a change in the initial design for the MRT, which now covers one square hectare instead of the previous planned 7,000 square meters.

Work on the first phase of the 15.5-kilometer MRT project linking Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta is expected to begin this year and be completed by 2016.

The city’s plan to demolish Lebak Bulus has been challenged by Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, who blasted Governor Fauzi Bowo for not consulting him on the matter.

On Thursday, a senior official at the City Hall said that Fauzi would only consult Andi if he had details about the future plan of the new stadium.

“We have not told him [the minister] about the plan because we’re still looking for new locations for the stadium. Besides, we just want the new stadium to be better, more spacious and able to host numerous sporting events,” City spokesperson Cucu Ahmad Kurnia told reporters.

— JP/Irawaty Wardhany