Blocking access to the airport

Blocking access to the airport

PT Angkasa Pura II, the company that manages Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport, has the legal right to close the M1 gate
on the public road leading to the airport for security reasons.

However, the road where the M1 gate is located also functions
as a shortcut for motorists who need to go to the area
surrounding the airport. For those who work in North and West
Jakarta, too, the M1 gate has been very convenient.

The M1 gate was erected especially to help those who work and
conduct daily business in the airport complex. Ojek, or
motorcycle taxi drivers, have been operating near the gate since
then.

However, the generosity of the airport authority to open the
gate to public has disappeared after a bomb exploded at the
airport a couple of weeks ago, and has caused serious problems
for the surrounding community.

PT Angkasa Pura II should have calculated the impact the
closure of the gate -- which has provoked anger among locals,
including ojek drivers -- would have on the surrounding community
before making such a decision.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta