Greater Jakarta needs integrated transport plan

Greater Jakarta needs integrated transport plan

JAKARTA (JP): A plan for Greater Jakarta's transportation
system is urgently needed to ensure the integration of various
transportation modes, an expert said yesterday.

Budhy Tjahjati S. Soegijoko, who chairs the board of the Urban
Regional Development Institute, said this was among the most
important factors to be considered in the new city planning.

"City planning will not work without infrastructure for city
transportation and water," Tjahjati, also deputy of foreign
affairs at the National Development Planning Board, Bappenas,
said.

She said the integration of private and public transport,
railroads and nonrail modes, and also nonmotorized transport,
needed to be made clear in a separate plan under city planning.

Therefore new proposals, such as the three-tier transport
system, the subway and the integrated Manggarai transit terminal,
should refer to a transportation plan, she said.

The transportation plan would have to cover Greater Jakarta.
"It's very hard now to separate Jakarta from Bogor, Tangerang and
Bekasi," she said.

The city is now revising the 1985/2005 city planning, which
will become the 1985/2010 city planning.

Tjahjati said she has been consulted occasionally by the city
on the revision of the city planning.

Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs Tb. Rais
said earlier that new projects would likely be covered in a
document accompanying the revised city planning.

Tjahjati said the revised city planning would hopefully lead
to better transportation coordination between Jakarta and its
surrounding areas.

But she added it was only late last year when the government
and large scale developers agreed to make a master plan for
Greater Jakarta. But to her knowledge there has been no follow-up
to the agreement, she said.

She said the meeting in which the agreement was reached was
organized by the Urban Regional Development Institute, which was
set up by a private foundation.

"The Jakarta administration should take the initiative to
coordinate related departments (including West Java authorities)
to draw up a master plan," she said.

Jakarta faced rising competition from megacities in the Asia-
Pacific region, she said, and therefore should aim for
efficiency.

"Transportation is the most important factor for efficiency,"
she said.

A few years ago the government had announced plans for a
transportation authority for Jakarta, to include the municipality
and several government bodies, such as the Ministry of
Transportation, but nothing has been heard of since, she said.

Tjahjati further said that city planning would be meaningless
without enforcement, such as the control of illegally issued
permits.

She responded further to the issue of changes in land use, and
the lack of insecurity felt by residents that their homes might
have to make way for public or private projects.

Deputy Governor Tb. M. Rais had said changes could happen in
view of developing interests, including the need for the city to
raise investment.

"The important thing is that the city ensures that changes in
land use, if necessary, does not disadvantage people. Solutions
would have to be sought," she said.

Investors at least need to be guaranteed that before their
return of investment, their businesses would not be affected by,
for instance, sudden changes in land use. (anr)