City aims to break ground on Lebak Bulus MRT by March 2012: MRT Co.

The Jakarta Administration is aiming to begin working on a Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) station where Lebak Bulus Stadium is currently situated before March of next year.

“[Fauzi Bowo] has stated that the groundbreaking would be conducted during the first three months of 2012. This means that before March of next year Lebak Bulus Stadium would be free [for construction],” PT MRT Jakarta president director Tribudi Rahardjo said Thursday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He said the company had established a schedule and that the target for MRT operation would not be allowed to be delayed beyond Nov 2016.

Tribudi said the company had talked with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is granting the loan for one phase of the operation, about land procurement.

JICA will pay the costs ahead of time instead of using a reimbursement method, he said.

Tribudi added that many companies have been interested in following the project’s tender, scheduled for July.

He said he was confident that the first phase would be carried out according to the schedule.

“As long as the preparations such as the groundbreaking are to be carried out before the winner [of the tender] is decided on,” he said.