Ciputat road works

Ciputat road works

From Bisnis Indonesia

A news item in the Nov. 13 edition of Bisnis Indonesia
implied that the private sector is prepared to lend a helping
hand in addressing the road problems of Ciputat and its
surroundings.

This is joyful news. Actually, the Ciputat road solution
package should be tackled by the Tangerang administration and
related offices. Ciputat's traffic jams are legendary.

The Tangerang regional government should follow up on this
opportunity because of the present shortcomings in its
administration, such as a lack of donations and the restriction
of funds at regional administrative levels.

There is a shortage of finances, since the government is no
longer capable of funding the entire transportation
infrastructure. On the other hand, the regional government failed
to secure funds from the private sector and the local populace to
repair extremely damaged roads.

There are only a few professionals in the technical and
management sector. This is reflected in the amount of available
management funds, which contradicts several media reports
sometime ago which claimed that Rp 1.6 billion in the 1996/97
State Budget had been earmarked for Ciputat road repairs.

However, no action of importance in this field, or an
indication of public works in progress, can be noted. Meanwhile,
the closing date of the State Budget, March 1997, is rapidly
approaching.

We have reached the conclusion that help from the Indonesian
Real Estate Association, Tangerang branch, has to be sought and
fully utilized, in a serious bid to overcome traffic snarls in
Ciputat and in the vicinity.

The regional administration is expected to ease up procedures
and participate in a positive way to ensure a smooth project
implementation. We hope that there will be no officials who will
turn this into an opportunity to serve their own ends.

IMAM S. HARJOWIJOYO

Tangerang, West Java