J

AKARTA: The city administration plans to relocate around 500 families of squatters currently occupying the BMW Park, North Jakarta, as the city administration aims to convert the park into a sports stadium.

“We want to build an international stadium here, so I need to know the situation in the field,” Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Saturday during his visit to the park as quoted by kompas.com.

He said the administration would have to relocate the squatters. “We’re still deciding if we will move them to the nearest low-cost apartments or build new ones within the vicinity of the park,” he said.

The administration plans to transform the 26-hectare park on Jl. RE Martadinata into an area that has a stadium, city forest, open green space, parking area, water sports area, two soccer fields and an athletics track. The stadium is expected to be the largest one of its kind in Asia, with capacity for 50,000 people.

The area will also have a dam and an artificial lake.

The BMW Park project was initiated by former governor Fauzi Bowo and was due to be completed last year. The administration secured Rp 1.5 trillion (US$155 million) for the project in the 2013 city budget for land acquisition and infrastructure development.