Jakarta: It's chaotic, crowded and polluted
Jakarta: It's chaotic, crowded and polluted
Kurniawan Hari and Anissa S. Febrina
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Ayako Shimizu, a staff member of the Information and Culture
Section at the Embassy of Japan, was waiting one morning for a
taxi in Hang Lekir, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, when a car
pulled up beside her.
She got into the car voluntarily when the driver offered her a
lift to her office on Jl. Thamrin.
"I had been waiting for a taxi for quite a long time, so I
accepted the offer. Possibly, he thought I was a joki," she
jokingly told the Jakarta Post.
The joki is a product of the Jakarta administration's "three-
in-one" policy to ease traffic congestion in the city during rush
hours.
Drivers often pay joki to raise the number of passengers to
three so that they can enter major thoroughfares affected by the
three-in-one policy.
Under this policy, only cars with at least three passengers
are allowed to pass through the city center.
While some dismiss Jakarta as chaotic, crowded and polluted,
others perceive the city as a melting pot.
Bob Smith, a CEO of an advertising company, cynically said
that although Jakarta was the capital of the world's fourth
biggest country, it basically had no "roads".
"The roads in this city are not roads but places where people
fight to get in front of each other," said Smith, who has been
living in Jakarta for 25 years.
Despite the city's hectic pace, the social and cultural
amalgamation of Jakarta can also be invigorating.
"Well, there is a unique experience everyday."
"I like being in Jakarta as my standard of living is
reasonable and I can save money for the future. What I don't like
is the corruption, the police and the way they treat people, the
traffic and the rubbish," Smith added.
Korean businessman Ahn Ali, 40, said he loved to go to malls,
cafes and traditional hangouts like warung tegal (street-side
restaurants selling Tegal food) or restoran padang (Padang
restaurants).
"Traditional cafes are more interesting. People used to drink
coffee in warung kopi (traditional coffee shops) but now they
have Starbucks," he said.
While Ahn enjoys the city's modern malls or cafes, he regrets
the lack of green public spaces.
Ahn suggested that Jakarta should protect the parks it has and
look at establishing more.
"The Monas (park) is good but we don't have many places like
that," he said.
Belgian Marc Peeters concurred with Ali, saying that the city
administration needed to upgrade sidewalks for pedestrians'
comfort.
If strong action is not taken soon the capital's traffic
problem will only get worse, becoming more difficult to solve.
"Without traffic jams, people would have a great deal more
time on their hands to finish their work," Peeters said.
The huge influx of villagers to the capital in search of jobs
is part of the problem. The increasing population coupled with
poor city management has resulted in a crowded and chaotic place.