Flooding triggers heavy congestion across jakarta
Flooding triggers heavy congestion across jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): Flooding, poor handling of traffic and the
absence of traffic police were blamed for the heavy congestion in
many city streets yesterday.
People complained that they spent three times longer than
usual on the road.
Hundreds of commuters were seen waiting for buses, which were
already overloaded. Some public bus drivers had had to change
routes to avoid congestions.
Commuters said that one of the main factors behind the
congestion was the flooding around Jl. Daan Mogot in West
Jakarta.
The water, which reached about 50 centimeters for a two-
kilometer segment of road, caused many vehicles to stall.
Water also covered part of Jl. S. Parman in front Tarumanegara
University in West Jakarta.
On certain roads in the heart of the city, such as Jl.
Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto, the traffic flow
began to improve in the evening.
At one point in the afternoon, traffic was banked up for more
than 10 km from part of the tollroad on Jl. Gatot Subroto in
South Jakarta to Jl. S. Parman in West Jakarta.
Bumper-to-bumper
"I spent more than three-and-a-half hours to get from my house
in Pesing to Jl. Gatot Subroto. Usually it takes me only 40
minutes," said Linda, an employee of a private firm.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic clogged highways connecting the city
with Bekasi, Tangerang and Tanjung Priok.
Traffic jams were also severe on the Tanjung Priok-Cawang
tollroad.
On the Karawaci-Tomang highway, a jam about 10 km in length
was observed.
No highway patrol police or tollroad operator personnel were
seen helping manage the traffic.
One police officer had to drive for almost half an hour from
Jl. Tulodong to his nearby office at the City Police Headquarters
in South Jakarta. On normal days, it takes him less than five
minutes to make the trip, he said.
Among the other roads with congestion yesterday were Jl.
Salemba Raya, Jl. Proklamasi, Jl. Matraman Raya and Jl.
Diponegoro in Central Jakarta; Jl. Yos Sudarso and connecting
streets in North Jakarta; and Jl. Pesanggrahan in South Jakarta.
Some taxi drivers refused to take passengers heading for
Palmerah, Kebon Jeruk and other destinations in West Jakarta.
Motorists who usually spend 10 to 15 minutes to traverse a
four-km stretch of road from Tanah Abang cemetery to Palmerah,
Central Jakarta, spent 50 minutes making the trip yesterday.
A cemetery official tried to help ease the traffic by opening
a small alley to motorists heading for Pejompongan. He received
between Rp 100 and Rp 500 from each driver for the service.
City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said the heavy rain
since Tuesday evening was the main factor in yesterday's traffic
woes.
Irzal Djamal, the deputy head of the City Land Transportation
Office, concurred with Dibyo, saying that the flooding in North
Jakarta had disrupted the traffic.
Water reached between 60cm and 75cm in North Jakarta, the
local flood control post reported yesterday.
Yesterday's floods and traffic congestion reportedly forced
many private and government employees to stay at home.
A number of flights were said to have been delayed yesterday
but airline officials could not be reached for confirmation last
night.
Agus Waluyo, an information officer at Soekarno-Hatta airport,
told The Jakarta Post that Garuda Indonesia had delayed its two
domestic flights, Merpati Nusantara three and Mandala Airlines
one.
He declined to confirm, however, that the delays had been
necessitated by the late arrival of passengers and aircraft crew
due to the traffic jams. (bsr/32/03/rsl/rms)