Socializing the roads<\/p>\n
It may not be as dramatic as the bus smash that killed so many
\non the Jagorawi, but the new road outside our banjar (part of the
\nvillage) in Bali is claiming the same number of lives. The road
\nthat runs from Batubulan to Payangan has just been widened, all
\nthe better to ferry people to hotels and houses owned by well-
\nconnected people. Today, two brothers carving stone statues on
\nthe side of the road to support their family, were killed by a
\nhit-and-run vehicle. Recently, another two young lives were taken
\nby a truck driver going too fast to deal with contingencies. Last
\nSaturday my dearly-loved dog was killed by a driver who sped away
\n- it could have been my child or that of a member of this
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
The road going through our banjar is so wide that it has
\nabsorbed the shoulders on which pedestrians fell safe. Now the
\ncar is king (I use the gender-specific term deliberately) and the
\nfatalities will continue to rise with the lack of responsibility.
\nLast Saturday night many women were weeping at the loss of sons.
\nI was weeping at the loss of my canine friend and guardian. And
\nfor what? So tourists can have right of way? So young men in
\nmachines they can't master can go fast?<\/p>\n
The new road has raised the temperature in the banjar, asphalt
\nbeing a great heat sink and radiator of heat. It has also
\nsignificantly raised the level of risk to the community.<\/p>\n
While the roads are a mark of so-called progress, they spell
\ndestruction if not constructed with a social conscience and
\nsocial planning. Drivers in Indonesia, I am sad to say, are not
\nencouraged to be sufficiently skilled to handle vehicles and have
\nlittle sense of consequence in the absence of personal liability.
\nThe lack of enforcement, and poor quality of driving tuition make
\nthe situation worse. Even the police drive badly and break the
\nrules. In the meantime who will compensate the families for the
\nloss of the productive members of that family ? Who will help
\nfund the ngaben (cremation)? Not the drivers or the agencies that
\nfund the roads.<\/p>\n
Development planners need to take into account the social
\nimpact of economic investments that leaves some members of the
\ncommunity enriched and other emotionally and economically
\nimpoverished. The real indicators of the development are not the
\ncheap symbols and labels but the development of a consequent
\nsociety and planning system.<\/p>\n
MELODY KEMP<\/p>\n
Sayan, Bali<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/socializing-the-roads-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }