Addresses in Jakarta

Addresses in Jakarta

Monica Hols' frustrating experience in finding an address in
Jakarta (On the Move in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post, July 24, 1995)
originated rather from the arbitrary numbering of the houses on
Jalan Bangka II and not from the services of the public transport
sector.

However, we have to hand it to her fellow countrymen of years
past, the Dutch, who introduced and applied systematic numbering
of buildings and houses: odd numbers on the left, even numbers on
the right side of a street. Exception was made for streets along
waterways: Jalan Gadjah Mada, Jalan Hayam Wuruk, where the
numbers were (are) consecutive. Therefore, the older parts of
Jakarta, now mainly Jakarta Pusat, and also Kebayoran Baru,
present no problems for the address seeker. But Greater Jakarta,
with mainly ribbon developments on main streets (Jalan Daan Mogot
to the west, Jalan Fatmawati to the south and Jalan
Pramuka/Pemuda to the east), is a nightmare to locate numbers,
except perhaps within housing complexes.

The "golden tip" for Ms. Hols is: If you want to go to an
address, of which the locality is unknown to you, in Greater
Jakarta you must first of all inquire by telephone or letter (if
you come from outside Jakarta) where the address is exactly
located with reference to other houses; buildings or landmarks.
(There is no "golden tip" for coming to grips with Jakarta's
public transport.)

Do not forget that the buildings in the Central Business
District (Jalan Thamrin, Sudirman, Gatot Subroto, Rasuna Said)
have no numbers. They only have what is called kaveling numbers
referring, possibly, to the registration number of the plot of
land. These numbers are not indicative of the relative location
of the buildings.

If the high-rise building moguls cannot affix numbers to their
buildings, should one expect public transport vehicle drivers,
the perpetrators of Miss Hols' frustration, to know where a
house, with perhaps a puzzling address in South Jakarta, is
exactly located?

S. HARMONO

Jakarta