$5.4m budget for bus project approved<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The City Council has approved an allocation of Rp 54 billion
\n(US$5.4 million) from the 2002 city budget for a busway project
\nconnecting Blok M in South Jakarta with downtown Kota in West
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of the council's Commission D for development
\naffairs, Ali Imran Husein, claimed that the project would improve
\npublic transportation in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"We support it but we would also urge the city administration
\nto better explain the technical details," Ali, of the United
\nDevelopment Party, told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n
He said the planned procurement of some 50 air-conditioned
\nbuses should be done transparently to avoid public suspicions
\nabout possible corruption in the project, which is due to start
\nin October of this year.<\/p>\n
The busway project was one of several projects included on the
\nagenda of a two-day meeting held by the council to discuss the
\ncity's Rp 8.9 billion draft budget in Puncak, Bogor, West Java.<\/p>\n
But because the meeting ended inconclusively last Friday, the
\ncouncil approved the busway project during an extension of their
\nmeeting at the council building here on Saturday.<\/p>\n
A number of councillors feared that the project, which was
\ndesigned by transportation experts from the Yogyakarta-based
\nGadjah Mada University, would cause traffic jams and
\nenvironmental damage.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of trees along the Blok M-Kota route, especially
\nalong Jl. Sisingamangaraja, Jl. Jend. Sudirman, and Jl. MH.
\nThamrin, will be cut to pave the way for the development of bus
\nshelters and other facilities for the new transportation system.<\/p>\n
Ali of the United Development Party warned the administration
\nabout possible environmental damage as a result of the project's
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
"The cutting of the trees should be carried out carefully.
\nIt's okay if it will only involve cutting the tops of the trees,
\nnot felling them completely," he told reporters.<\/p>\n
As the new system will require dedicated bus lanes and reduce
\nthe lanes available to private cars, it is feared that the plan
\ncould worsen traffic congestion along the affected roads.<\/p>\n
"Yes, it will create traffic jams. It will be inconvenient for
\nprivate car owners. But, we cannot please everybody," the City
\nTransportation Agency's Program Management Division head D.A.
\nRini said.<\/p>\n
Although the project has yet to commence, the Indonesian Land
\nTransportation Owners' Association (Organda)'s Jakarta chapter
\nhead Aip Syaifuddin rejected the project if it would cause losses
\nto his association's members.<\/p>\n
"If some of our bus routes are going to be taken over by the
\nproject, we will reject it," Aip told reporters at City Hall.<\/p>\n
However, he praised the new system for instituting a monthly
\nfixed salary for drivers. The current system requires the drivers
\nto pay a daily rental fee, thus causing their daily income to
\nfluctuate according to the number of passengers they carry per
\nday.<\/p>\n
As a result, drivers are inclined to take on as many
\npassengers as possible and to drive recklessly without paying
\nattention to traffic signs and passenger safety.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/54m-budget-for-bus-project-approved-1447893297",
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