JAKARTA. After being in limbo for many years, the construction of the much-awaited new soccer stadium at the BMW park in North Jakarta will commence soon.

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said on Wednesday that stadium would become headquarters for Jakarta soccer club Persija and the Soccer Association of Indonesia.

“We are now designing the stadium,” he said, as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

Ahok said the design should be appropriate as it would be the headquarters of two institutions.

He said he also had ordered City Secretary Saefullah to take care the project, including finishing all the land disputes.

The development of the stadium had been halted for a few years due to land disputes while the Jakarta administration had torn down Persija’s stadium in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, in 2015 to turn it into the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train depot.

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie