City berated for ignoring public needs

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A scholar and Jakarta residents lambasted the policies and projects of the city administration as they claimed many of them ignored public needs and resulted in strong opposition and criticism from Jakarta residents.

"Mounting public skepticism and objections to Governor Sutiyoso's costly projects, such as the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle and the fencing of the National Monument, for instance, reflect their responses to policies that are not in line with public needs," said Abidin Kusno, a lecturer at the State University of New York during a public debate held by the University of Indonesia's School of Engineering.

Abidin contended that Jakarta residents were getting skeptical about projects that the administration claimed were "in the interest of the public", as they did not feel any direct impact in their lives.

The administration has come under strong public criticism for squandering taxpayers' money on costly projects such as the renovation of the HI traffic circle, which cost a massive Rp 14 million and the fencing of Monas park, which will cost Rp 9 billion. Both projects went ahead despite widespread poverty afflicting city residents as a result of the protracted economic crisis, and the buffeting the city received at the hands of the devastating floods that hit most parts of Jakarta in January and February of this year.

The project to fence in Monas park has also been criticized for reducing the amount of open space available to the public.

"Many policies and projects were planned based on political and economic interests rather than the public's real needs," Abidin said.

Some participants in the discussion, mostly students, also expressed their concerns about what they claimed were the poor policies of the administration in coping with the city's problems including its policy toward the street vendors who throng Jakarta streets.

"The administration has failed to formulate clear policies on how to manage street vendors here," said a participant.

The administration has been known for its hostility to street vendors and continues to launch violent raids to evict them. Earlier on Wednesday, dozens of street vendors who had been evicted from the Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta asked for a helping hand from the City Council in urging the administration to allow them to resume trading.

Abidin called on the administration to boost public participation in designing its policies.

"Otherwise, all the policies drawn up by the administration will be opposed by the residents as these policies are disadvantageous rather than beneficial to their lives," Abidin asserted.