Land acquisition stalls road work

BEKASI: A project that will connect East Jakarta with Bekasi has again had to be delayed because the government has not yet acquired land.

"It will be delayed for a while, pending agreement on the land price," Saut Parlindungan Simatupang, a project manager from toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, was quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif.com on Wednesday.

Many residents were demanding that the government buy their land at higher than market prices.

He revealed that 65 percent of the construction of the Jl. Hankam Raya-Cikunir toll road, which is part of the costly Jakarta Outer Ring Road project, had been completed.

The total length of the road would be about 8.2 kilometers, he said. -- JP