Damaged road angers residents

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The main road linking Kuta Bumi, Pasar Kemis and Tangerang town is in a serious state of disrepair, causing a host of problems for drivers and residents as it prolongs their journey times and threatens their health.

"I cannot remember exactly how long this road has been damaged. But I know for a fact that Tangerang regency hasn't repaired it for the last two years," Bambang S., a 35-year-old father of three, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Bambang said that the four-kilometer road was in poor repair even before the floods earlier this year. But the floods had left it virtually impassable.

"When will this road be repaired? It's been too long now that we've been unable to travel to and from this area in some semblance of comfort. Vehicles have to crawl along and swerve in and out of the potholes," a middle-aged lady complained while traveling on a public minivan serving the route.

"A trip along the entire four-kilometer length of the road can take up to half an hour."

She said that her husband now had to spend one hour everyday just waiting for public minivans as the number willing to serve the route had dropped markedly.

Many route R-15A public minivan drivers plying the Kuta Bumi-Cimone run are now reluctant to go as far as the end of the route.

"The state of the road means that we are wasting time, and therefore also losing fares and increasing our operating costs," Embar, a driver, said, adding that the road's condition meant that they used more fuel and had to buy spareparts more often.

"As you see, there's no end to the potholes along the road. There's no asphalt left either, just gravel, sand and dust. As vehicles pass by, the dust flies up into the air and the people around breath it in," Bambang told the Post.

He said that the damaged road had forced his pregnant wife to stay at home as she feared for the health of her baby due to the dust.

Mailani, 32, who runs a CD rental store in the Villa Tangerang Regency II residential complex along the road said that if the road was not repaired and the dust problem solved, everyone, especially children, living there would face health problems, especially respiratory diseases.