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."