'However, we are transitioning from a previous regulation that obliged us to use the NJOP price as the benchmark in setting land prices. Hence, we are also referring to the market price in our deals with land owners,' he said.

The agency allocated a big chunk of its budget for land acquisition. The agency spent Rp 200 billion to acquire land for the ongoing construction of a large dam in Ciawi, Bogor and Rp 250 billion to acquire land for a widening project at the Pesanggrahan River in South Jakarta to make way for the construction of a reservoir in Kalideres, West Jakarta. The agency has also allocated Rp 150 billion to acquire land for the Sunter Reservoir project in North Jakarta.

The agency spent Rp 1.6 trillion to acquire land for infrastructure projects in the city.

Agus said that multi-year projects had also been suspended for not getting approval from the City Council.

He said the suspended projects included the planned construction of an overpass that would connect Manggarai in South Jakarta with the University of Indonesia in Depok and another one that would connect Kampung Melayu with Pulo Gebang, both in East Jakarta, as well as overpass and underpass construction at railway crossings.

'We had already set a budget but were unable to make significant progress as the multi-year project scheme had not been approved by the City Council,' he said.

Agus said most projects were urgently needed, such as the construction of an overpass for railway crossings in Bintaro, South Jakarta and Permata Hijau, South Jakarta, for safety reasons.

Agus said he hoped the council would speed up the appointment of commission heads so discussions on multi-year projects could continue.

'We want to maximize our spending in the last two months of the year but our hands are tied,' he said.

Council deputy speaker Triwisaksana claimed that the documents for multi-year projects had been delivered to the council several days ago.

'It takes only one or two weeks for us to approve projects as long as the explanations from the city administration are clear,' he said.

He suggested that the city administration work harder instead of finding a scapegoat for their bad performance.

Triwisaksana said the city administration should not concern itself with the council's state or problems.

'We still can discuss the projects by forming a special committee,' he said, adding that the proposed documents would be discussed in the near future.

Triwisaksana said the city administration should speed up their budget spending to at least 60 percent.

'This is a signal to the council. It could be considered to have failed in carrying out infrastructure and development programs this year,' he said.

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