City administration, council agree on 'becak' prohibition<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration and the city council
\nagreed on Wednesday to uphold bylaw 11\/1988 which bans the use of
\nbecak (pedicabs) on the city's streets.<\/p>\n
"We, the city council and the city administration, conclude
\nthat becak are still banned in the city as stated in the bylaw,"
\ncouncil speaker Edy Waluyo said after meeting with city
\nofficials, led by deputy governor for administrative affairs
\nAbdul Kahfi, to discuss the pedicab issue.<\/p>\n
Edy said he had personally received objections from residents
\nliving in housing complexes to the use of pedicabs locally, since
\nthe pedicabs caused traffic and litter problems in the complexes.<\/p>\n
The operators of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah recreation park in
\nEast Jakarta, Ragunan zoo in South Jakarta and Ancol Dreamland in
\nNorth Jakarta have also expressed their objection to the
\noperation of pedicabs in their respective areas for the same
\nreasons, the councilor explained.<\/p>\n
The agreement reached between the administration and the
\ncouncil ended the 11-month dispute between pedicab drivers, who
\nwere strongly supported by several NGOs, and the Jakarta
\nadministration about the presence of pedicabs on the capital's
\nstreets.<\/p>\n
It was clear that the pedicab drivers' days were up after
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid told on Saturday an audience of some
\n5,000 poor people, including pedicab drivers, that the government
\nsupported the city's plan to ban pedicabs, giving the reason that
\nJakarta pedicab drivers worked like horses.<\/p>\n
Although the bylaw was issued in 1988, pedicabs were only
\ncleared from the streets four years later.<\/p>\n
The problem arose again early this year when local media
\nquoted Governor Sutiyoso as saying that he would allow pedicab
\ndrivers to work in the city again in an effort to help poor
\npeople overcome the prolonged economic crisis.<\/p>\n
The reports led thousands of pedicab drivers from outside
\nJakarta to return to the city's streets together with their
\nthree-wheel vehicles, which consequently caused traffic
\ncongestion at certain spots.<\/p>\n
The governor then hastily denied his statement, accusing the
\nmedia of misquoting him.<\/p>\n
The revocation of his statement, however, was too late because
\nthere were already thousands of pedicabs operating in the
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
As a result, the pedicab drivers, with the help of NGO
\nactivists, held a series of rallies demanding the city allow them
\nto work the streets and the revocation of the bylaw.<\/p>\n
Deputy governor Abdul Kahfi said the administration had
\ncounted at least 6,621 pedicabs currently operating in the city's
\nfive mayoralties.<\/p>\n
"Ninety-five percent of the pedicab drivers are not Jakarta
\nresidents," Kahfi said during Wednesday's meeting.<\/p>\n
He reiterated the city administration would pay for the
\ndrivers to return to their hometowns, including Banyumas and
\nCirebon in West Java and Tegal, and Brebes and Pekalongan in
\nCentral Java.<\/p>\n
The city's public order office head Hadi Utomo on Wednesday
\nsaid on Wednesday his office had earlier sent at least 2,146
\ndrivers and their pedicabs back to their villages.<\/p>\n
"But many of them have returned to the city again. We
\nrecognized this based on the marks we put on their pedicabs,"
\nHadi said.<\/p>\n
He also revealed that raids against pedicab drivers are not
\neasy, since most of the drivers are equipped with sharp weapons
\nto attack officers.<\/p>\n
"Many of my officers were injured during the raids." (jun)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-administration-council-agree-on-becak-prohibition-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }