Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno claimed on Thursday that the expansion of sidewalks along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta will be finished and open to the public by the end of July despite construction still being underway.

“We just inspected the progress [of the expansion] and it’s quite organized. It may not look ready yet but believe me, I was a [construction] businessman and used to [manage] road constructions. By July 22, the sidewalks will be smooth and by July 31, the sidewalks will be usable,” Sandiaga said on Friday.

The sidewalk expansion is part of the city’s infrastructure preparations ahead of the 2018 Asian Games that will be hosted this August and September in the capital and the South Sumatran city of Palembang.

Read also: Jakarta sidewalk revamp to finish before Asian Games

The Jakarta administration has been planning to revamp the 6.9 kilometers of sidewalks between Senayan and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle since 2016. 

The sidewalks are to be widened to 10 to 12 meters. As part of the renovations, the thoroughfares will no longer consist of fast and slow lanes, but one slow lane for regular buses and motorcycles, three lanes for cars and one for Transjakarta buses. 

City-owned PT MRT Jakarta, publicly listed PT Jaya Konstruksi Manggala Pratama and state-owned PT Wijaya Karya are the developers responsible for the expansion project.

However, work on the project only began in March, as Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan had requested several changes to the project, including the provision of motorcycle lanes.  (wit)