Some 25 manhole covers at the Mampang-Kuningan underpass in South Jakarta have been stolen.

“I’ve just realized [that the covers are gone] on [Thursday] afternoon,” South Jakarta Bina Marga road agency head Agustio Ruhuseto said as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.

He also said that he had immediately instructed his team to cover the holes using road blocks to prevent a traffic accident from occurring.

“The placement of road blocks is a temporary measure. We are going to replace them with new permanent covers,” Agustio added.

A motorcyclist named Adi who passed through the underpass that afternoon said the absence of covers had caused an inconvenience.

“A motorist might fall into the hole if they're unaware of the missing covers,” he said. (vla)