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cting governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama has instructed his subordinates to cut bureaucratic red-tape and stop conducting unnecessary bids in order to speed up the development of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).

During a meeting with representatives of relevant agencies and officials from PT MRT at City Hall on Tuesday, he asked them to be more efficient in their coordination by using mobile messaging applications such as BlackBerry Messenger or text messages.

'€œAn official letter is important, but we could die while waiting for a letter to be issued. Coordinate via BBM or text messages. The letter can follow later,'€ he said.

He made the remark after MRT director Dono Boestami said he would send a letter to Public Works Agency head Manggas Rudy Siahaan, who would be responsible for carrying out a road widening project on Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta.

Two representatives of the Jakarta Financial Management Body (BPKD) appeared baffled when Ahok told them to annul a tender for the dismantling of five Transjakarta shelters and three pedestrian bridges along Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.

One of the BPKD officials said he would go to the State Bidding Office to cancel the tender.

Ahok said a tender was unnecessary because the administration could reuse the materials from dismantled shelters to build shelters elsewhere. He was also worried that companies that won the tender to build new shelters would use the old materials in the project.

'€œOur [Transjakarta] bus shelters use the knockdown technology. We should dismantle them and put them in the warehouse in Cakung [East Jakarta]. This is one of the bad habits of the BPKD. Do not sell [reusable] materials such as aluminum. We have to save every cent,'€ he said.

He also instructed Transportation Agency head M. Akbar to keep data on the shelters, so there would be no manipulation by officials in Cakung.

Meanwhile, MRT Construction director M. Nassir expressed concern over public buses and minivans that still used the Lebak Bulus terminal. He said the construction of the elevated station would leave space for public minivans until the end of 2015, but the space would be gone once the contractor began building the depot.

'€œThe problem is, when the elevated station is finished at the end of 2015 and the contractor starts building the depot, there will be no detour for public minivans. We are afraid the public minivans will insist on using the terminal,'€ he said.

Akbar said he would make sure that public buses and minivans would not disrupt the construction of the station and depot. He said they would be accommodated at a new terminal nearby.

The MRT project has entered its next stage and will further affect traffic flow on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta and Jl. Sisingamangaraja in South Jakarta.

PT MRT Jakarta management said recently that the project would cause congestion, but there would be 380 meters of alternative routes to ease gridlock as from May 26.