Independent watchdog needed for road development
Independent watchdog needed for road development
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The corruption that has infected the Public Works Agency and
contractors necessitates an independent watchdog to monitor the
development of roads in the capital, an expert said on Monday.
The chairman of the University of Indonesia's Center for
Transportation Studies, Sutanto Soehodho, said an independent
watchdog was needed because the control mechanisms currently in
place had proved ineffective.
"Nearly all of the roads (in the city) are of poor quality. We
need an independent watchdog to avoid such poor quality," Sutanto
told The Jakarta Post.
The Jakarta Public Works Agency has appointed 20 companies to
repair some 22,250 square meters of flood damaged roads in the
city. The agency awarded the contracts with first holding a
tender.
The city has allocated over Rp 118 billion to repair damaged
roads across the city. This money also will be used to fix the
drainage systems for the roads.
Amin Tjakraamidjaja, the head of the road section at the
agency, said his office did not use a tender because the repairs
had to be completed immediately and the tender would have
required time.
Amin said Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso approved the agency's
decision to appoint the companies without the benefit of a
tender.
According to Sutanto, who is also the chairman of the
University of Indonesia's Department of Civil Engineering, the
development of roads in the city cannot be effectively monitored
because this falls under the responsibility of the Public Works
Agency, whose officials also act as project leaders.
To maintain its independence, Sutanto said the proposed
independent road development watchdog should not include
officials of the Public Works Agency or contractors involved in
the construction of roads.
"The members of the independent watchdog should be independent
experts who are able to make independent scientific assessments,"
he said, adding that the members could be drawn from the world of
academia.
Sutanto added that the watchdog also could exert direct
control over road development by engaging in such activities as
reporting road damage.
"If people see damaged roads in their areas that were only
repaired a few months earlier, they can file a protest with the
related agencies and the contractors will fix the problem," he
said.
Sutanto said an independent watchdog would prevent any
collusion between officials of the Public Works Agency and
contractors. Such collusion is believed to be to blame for much
of the poor quality roads in the city.
As an example, he said drainage systems, which are vital in
the construction of roads, did not function properly in nearly
all sections of road in Jakarta.
"It is fatal if roads do not have a good drainage system
because water is the main enemy of roads, particularly asphalt
ones," said Sutanto.
"This can be seen in many areas in Greater Jakarta. The road
connecting Serpong-Bumi Serpong Damai and BSD-Cikokol in
Tangerang, Banten, is one example."