Jakarta Fair committee to rent bus routes

JAKARTA (JP): The committee organizing the 30th Jakarta Fair in June vowed to overcome the annual transport problems by renting buses on existing routes and paying incentives to drivers.

Since the Jakarta Fair moved from the Monas National Monument Park to the Kemayoran Fairgrounds in Central Jakarta, people without private cars have complained of the lack of public transport.

Rudi Hendra, the deputy general manager of the Jakarta International Trade Center in charge of organizing the fair, said yesterday ordering bus drivers to take passengers to the fair had not helped.

Bus drivers say they risk empty buses to and from the fair.

"So we will rent four buses from each of the 10 routes passing the fair, and pay drivers Rp 10,000 if they take more than 30 passengers on one trip. This way they won't have to worry about their daily target," Rudi said.

Although every year the city adds buses plying special routes to the fairgrounds, buses are still hard to find particularly late at night.

Rudi said passengers would not have to pay fares, only the admittance tickets of Rp 2,000 per person or Rp 1,500 for one person in a group of at least 25.

Rudi said further the city's public works office has said it would repair the roads leading to the fairgrounds, which are frequently damaged after rains.

Hopefully the road linking the fairgrounds to Jl. L. Martadinata would be ready when the fair opened on June 14, Rudi said. The Land Transport and Traffic Control Agency has also promised to add signs showing the way to the fair.

Because the fair would be celebrating its 30th year it would be "quite different," he said. The fair is held every year to commemorate Jakarta's founding. This year it will be held in conjunction with the city's 469th anniversary.

Attractions costing Rp 6 billion will include a daily street festival with entertainment coordinated by noted musician Franky Raden. A 'Jakarta Percussion Festival '97' will feature local and foreign groups from Japan, the Netherlands and other countries.

A 'ballet in the air,' a carnival, live music and contributions from Jakarta's 12 sister cities around the world will be part of the fair which runs to July 13.

"The samba (from Brazil) is among offers still being considered," Rudi said.

Boxing promoter Tourino Tidar said national champions will compete for the "Jakarta Fair Cup," in the hope that boxing would become a regular feature the annual fair.

The remaining problem, Rudi said, is attendance at the fair which aims to attract business representatives from around the country and from other countries.

"Until now no foreign representative has confirmed attendance," he said. "Trade representatives say a fair of 30 days is too long and would be too costly. They are accustomed to four-day fairs."

He said the committee had yet to solve the problem. (anr)