'Becak': Treasure of the metropolis

By Ed Kiefer and Lea Jellinek

JAKARTA (JP): Singapore, San Francisco, and Sydney love their pedicabs (becaks), as do many other modern cities around the world. Why is the Jakarta administration trying to eliminate this great asset of the city? The government has been treating becak drivers very severely in recent weeks.

Their vehicles are being confiscated, crushed and dumped in the sea. Some drivers have been compensated with a payment that is half the value of their vehicles. Others haven't been paid anything. Some have been pushed out to other towns of Java creating financial hardship for them and for many of their poor and middle-class former customers.

As pedicab drivers lose their livelihood, many mothers and children lose the most convenient form of transport from the kampung to the market, to school and to the polyclinic.

Pedicab drivers, who with hard honest work were once able to earn incomes Rp 600,000 per month, have been offered several unappealing alternatives -- leave for other towns and villages, be transmigrated or move to other jobs as petty traders or poorly paid servants. They may be offered capital of Rp 240,000 (which doesn't cover the loss of their lost vehicle) to set up a trading stall. But petty traders in Jakarta are suffering the same fate as becaks -- being driven off the streets, having carts destroyed and livelihoods eliminated.

Officials argue that becak driving is inhumane, that pedicabs are dirty and give the city a backward image, that drivers are undisciplined, disorderly and cause traffic jams. These same arguments were used in 1975-1981 when the first effort was made to eliminate the pedicabs. The elimination of the becak failed then and will fail again, because non-polluting transport is an essential part of a sustainable future.

Policy makers refer to the becak as dirty. But what is more dirty -- the becak or the badly tuned motor vehicles seen everywhere belching black smoke onto roadways and into the faces of pedestrians, drivers and roadside vendors? Surely this -- rather than becaks -- gives Jakarta a backward image, as well as extensive unacknowledged health problems.

Some accuse pedicabs of causing traffic jams -- but it is plainly evident that the main traffic jams are caused by cars, not becaks. Look at Jl. Sudirman from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Do you see any pedicabs in the way of the cars? We see only too many cars bumper to bumper pumping out heat and poisonous fumes. No wonder people are increasingly sick with asthma, and lung cancer. This apparently is of no concern to the Jakarta administration. They use the becak as a scapegoat and fail to face the real problems: too many polluting vehicles.

Pedicab drivers are accused of being unruly and undisciplined but are no more so than drivers of motorcycles, bajaj (three- wheeled motorcycle taxis) or cars. Becaks tend to stay in and around market places and in the back streets where they are needed and mostly do not go out onto the main roads. The drivers are vulnerable and poor. They know they can be easily caught and severely fined or have their becak taken. If they are found on a main road, it is usually because they are trying to cross it.

A city government which cared for its citizens would provide safe places where pedestrians, cyclists, and becaks would be able to cross main roads to get into the narrow streets of the kampongs. Here the becak is the most practical form of transport, suitable for intimate neighborhoods with narrow paths and playing children. Here the motorcar is a pushy intruder, and the motorcycle disturbs everyone.

In the city at night when the cars have gone, or in the kampung, the becak is a nice way to travel. Ask any foreigner or tourist who has experienced it. There is an elegance, a timelessness in the relaxing leisurely pace. The breeze blows in your face. The becak driver sits politely and at some distance behind you. He may chat and tell you about life.

Becak drivers form an excellent neighborhood watch system. Instead of having a dark, empty street which may feel dangerous to walk in, they provide a reassuring presence. As they are in the same streets each day and night, they know more than anyone else who are regulars and who are strangers. They can help people in need and keep undesirables out.

While Governor Sutiyoso (reputedly the owner of many cars and motorcycles) argues that the becak must be eliminated -- in the best cities of the world, it is cars and other polluting vehicles that are being restricted in favor of pedestrians, bicycles and public transport. In Singapore car numbers are kept down by high taxes which in turn subsidize cheap efficient public transport systems. Ultra-clean Singapore also has a large fleet of becaks (used mostly by tourists).

Why isn't the government looking at what is best for most of Jakarta citizens? Why is so little being done about the revolting condition of Jakarta's air which affects us all? We are not told how toxic is the air and that much of this poison comes from motor vehicles. Legislation has been passed to remove lead from petrol, but when will unleaded petrol be available? Lead poisoning is cumulative and causes brain damage. How many years will the citizens of Jakarta have to wait before the air is free of lead? Will we have any brains left?

Instead of attempting to eliminate becaks, the city administration could be directing their efforts towards reducing the number of cars on the roads, and improving air quality. Public buses are currently among the worst polluters, and the government should take charge and clean them up. The Jakarta government should take responsibility for providing adequate public transport, even if unprofitable.

Ed Kiefer, MA, MSc is an American educator who has been leading tours of southern Asia for 25 years. Lea Jellinek, PhD, MSc is a consultant anthropologist who has worked with Jakarta's poor since the early 1970s. She wrote The Wheel of Fortune: the history of a poor community in Jakarta. (1991).