It's not all fun at the fair for visitors
It's not all fun at the fair for visitors
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Thousands of people from Greater Jakarta visited the 2002 Jakarta Fair at the Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on the first day of the month-long event on Saturday.
However, some of the visitors complained about the difficulty of getting to the venue.
Many visitors with children said going to the fair was an annual family tradition. They did not care too much about what was on offer.
"Who cares about the goods or the performances? It's more important to bring the whole family here to relax at the weekend," said Suhendar, who came from Bekasi along with his wife and two children.
Suhendar took a city bus from Bekasi to Senen bus station and changed bus to head to Kemayoran. He was disappointed to find there were no direct city buses to Kemayoran and he found it difficult to change buses several times, particularly as he was with his small children, aged three years and five years.
Sutini, who came from Semper, North Jakarta, with her husband and daughter, had to spend Rp 20,000 (US$2.3) for the taxi fare from her house to the venue.
"If there were city buses from Tanjung Priok bus station to the fairground, we would not have spent so much money," she said.
Jakarta Fair spokesman Adhie M. Massardi, said there have been deals between the City Transport Agency and the organizers about city buses plying routes from various bus stations to the fairground.
"We have made a deal but I don't know why it has yet to materialize. Maybe because the transport companies contacted by the agency have the right to reject the offer," he said.
The organizers have also yet to provide shuttle buses traveling between the fairground to several star-rated hotels along Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. M.H. Thamrin.
Adhie said the organizers have just finished negotiations with a bus company to provide air-conditioned shuttle buses.
However, he failed to mention when the shuttle buses would begin operation. He could only say, "hopefully we can begin next week."
But Ariyanto Wibowo, a Hotel Indonesia concierge, said, "We have only just found out about the shuttle buses from the newspaper. We haven't received official notification from the organizers".
Over 1,500 participants from companies and regions joined the month-long event, which was opened by Vice President Hamzah Haz on Friday. President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to attend the grand opening on June 26.
Various performances including music shows, traditional dances and children's contests will also be staged during the event, which will run until July 14.