Jakarta to soon bid adieu to noisy 'bajaj'

Jakarta to soon bid adieu to noisy 'bajaj'

After transporting Jakartans for nearly three decades, bajaj
(three-wheeled motorized vehicles) will begin disappearing from
the city's streets in the next few days. The city administration
will phase out the Indian-made bajaj in favor of locally made
kancil (four-wheeled motorized vehicles). The Jakarta Post's Urip
Hudiono and Evi Mariani have taken a look back at the history of
the bajaj and the role these vehicles played in the development
of Jakarta. This is the first of six articles.

The capital city has long been associated with several things:
the National Monument (Monas), the Semanggi cloverleaf, the line
of skyscrapers along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, and its icon,
if you like, the distinctive, orange, three-wheeled bajaj.

Like the tuk-tuk in Bangkok, since its introduction in 1975,
the Indian-made bajaj has been a familiar sight on the city
streets. Indeed, it has captured the hearts of many, who have
grown used to the rattling sound, the bumpy ride and the often
slow-to-start vehicles.

At present, a sitcom which is aired daily by a private TV
station that relates the simple life of a poor bajaj driver in
the metropolis, enjoys very high ratings.

Bajaj were introduced to gradually replace becak (pedicabs) as
as an alternative means of transport in the city, besides buses
and taxis. Becak were banned altogether in the 1980s, although
some still operate in parts of the city.

However, what goes around comes around. After almost 30 years
of operation here, bajaj -- the Jakarta administration has
confirmed -- are to be replaced with kancil, a four-wheeled
vehicle that is manufactured by local automotive company PT
Kurnia Abadi Niaga Citra Indah Lestari.

While the plan has been in the works since 1982, and the
administration stopped issuing new permits for bajaj in 1986, it
continued to allow their operation, without preparing a suitable
replacement vehicle. That is, until 2001, when it finally decided
upon the kancil.

In a letter signed by Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo on May 24,
the administration approved the initial operation of 250 kancil
starting in July at the earliest, followed by the withdrawal of
250 of the older bajaj.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendi, meanwhile,
confirmed that his office had already issued 50 operating permits
for the kancil.

The administration has said that the bajaj are no longer
roadworthy. While their noisy, smoke-emitting, two-stroke engines
are said to worsen the city's pollution, their number and
reckless drivers are accused of worsening traffic congestion.

However, with around 14,000 bajaj currently operating in the
city, replacing them could prove difficult. Each bajaj provides
work for at least two drivers, and many of them are worried that
the change will leave them jobless.

Last year, when the administration first said that it would
start replacing bajaj with kancil, bajaj owners and drivers
staged numerous protests. In June, upon hearing that the kancil
would start operating this July, thousands of bajaj owners and
drivers again rallied outside City Hall.

Bajaj owners and drivers rejected the kancil, arguing that the
changeover would reduce their incomes, as they would not be able
to compete with the new vehicles, nor afford to purchase kancil
themselves.

Many bajaj drivers told The Jakarta Post that they could not
accept the notion that bajaj were the main cause of the city's
worsening pollution. They said that many other vehicles emitted
thick, black, exhaust fumes, yet the administrations did nothing
to ban them from the streets.

The drivers also objected to being called reckless. Several of
the drivers, who were driving bajaj in the 1980s, said at that
time, the Jakarta Police traffic division had taught them how to
drive and strictly obey traffic regulations -- but the training
was eventually discontinued.

In fact, India has produced a new model of the bajaj, which is
apparently environmentally friendly, but the newly passed bylaw
on transportation prohibits the use of three-wheeled vehicles for
public transportation in the city.

So far, the policy has not been enforced as the administration
is still arranging operational permits for kancil.