Busway boy Sutiyoso calls for sacrifice
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Speaking from a podium with a traffic jam in the background in the middle of heavy rain on Thursday, Governor Sutiyoso called on the capital's better-off citizens to make sacrifices for those from the lower-bracket income by supporting his ambitious busway project.
"I realize that the busway project shows that we are taking the side of the 'little people'. Therefore, I call on the rich to sacrifice for them by leaving your vehicles at home and taking the busway," he said, to the applause of more than 200 people gathered at the South Plaza of the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
The governor -- speaking at the launch of the busway system that stretches from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta and operates from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- expressed concern that by 2014 traffic would come to a standstill throughout Jakarta if the rich kept buying new cars.
"Every day Jakartans buy 138 new cars while the length of the roads is reduced by 800 meters," he said, adding that around 600,000 vehicles from cities around Jakarta like Tangerang, Bekasi, Bogor and Depok entered the capital every day.
"The extended and expanded three-in-one traffic policy from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. along the busway corridor is the least that you can do (the rich)," he said.
Sutiyoso said that the Jakarta macro transportation system would materialize by 2010. The program consists of 14 busway corridors, a monorail connecting Tangerang in the west and Bekasi in the east, a subway connecting the southern part of Jakarta to the north and river transportation.
"In the future, people living in Greater Jakarta will use mass rapid transportation to reach their workplace in the capital," he said.
Sutiyoso said that the busway was meant for the middle and lower-income citizens of Jakarta and therefore he would not force the rich to take the busway.
"If you still think the busway is not up to your standards, I can't force you to use it. Just keep on using your own private cars if you enjoy being trapped in congestion for hours," he said.
The city administration allocated Rp 120 billion last year and Rp 120 billion more this year for the busway project.
The construction of a monorail -- to be built by PT Indonesian Transit Central and Malaysian partner company M Trans Holding -- will start this year and is expected to be completed in two-and-a-half years with an investment of US$540 billion.