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T MRT Jakarta has reported that the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project phase I connecting Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle (Bundaran HI) in Central Jakarta is now 38 percent complete.

MRT Jakarta corporate secretary Tubagus Hikmatullah said in a press release on Tuesday that as of Dec. 31, the 6-kilometer underground section of the MRT, between Bundaran HI and Senayan in South Jakarta, was 53 percent complete.

The company, Tubagus said, was now constructing the box structure for underground stations, as well as tunneling, adding that the company was also constructing a depot.

'€œOne of the drilling machines, which was first put to work in November, has drilled 318 meters from the Pemuda Statue [Monument to Youth Advancement] to Senayan station,'€ he said.

He added, however, that unlike the underground section, the elevated section '€” from Senayan to Lebak Bulus '€” was only 23 percent complete.

Construction of the elevated section has been delayed by land acquisition issues, with owners of much of the land needing to be purchased unwilling to sell or stalling over purchase negotiations.