Jaywalkers, street vendors targeted in Operation Zebra

Jaywalkers, street vendors targeted in Operation Zebra

JAKARTA (JP): Jaywalkers, undisciplined commuters and street
vendors will be ticketed by a joint team of the ongoing Operation
Zebra beginning on Monday.

The Chief of the Traffic Investigation Unit of the City
Traffic Police Directorate, Lt. Col. Herman S., said yesterday
that offenders will be ticketed under the new fine scale which
means they will have to pay between Rp 10,000 (US$4.60) and Rp
15,000 per violation.

Herman said the operation will be initiated at certain points
in the city, such as on several roads in Pasar Minggu and at the
Blok M Mall shopping center in Kebayoran Baru, both in South
Jakarta.

The operation is part of the government's efforts to further
enforce controversial Traffic Law No. 14 issued in 1992, which
stipulates high fines, ranging up to Rp 6 million, for traffic
violators.

Actually, City Regulation No. 9, issued in 1992, which is
based on the new law, states that violators will face a maximum
imprisonment of three months, or a fine of Rp 50,000.

At the moment, a large number of people are in the habit of
jaywalking across main roads, such as Jl. Sudirman and Jl.
Thamrin in Central Jakarta, even though pedestrian bridges are
located just above their heads. Others can be crowding into the
roadway, while waiting for buses, which causes heavy traffic jams
as cars strive to miss them.

Attracted by the crowds, vendors of various merchandise often
set up their counters at the bus stops, which further aggravates
traffic congestion. These street vendors, who pay fees of Rp 500,
feel entitled to the space they taking up, apparently believing
that the fees make their presence legal.

Bus stops

Another target of the operation is the increasing number of
undisciplined commuters who insist on getting on and off public
transit vehicles at prohibited places. Some of them have defended
their actions by blaming the lack of bus stops.

The authorities are cracking down on the jaywalkers, commuters
and vendors because their behavior forces motorists to violate
regulations, such as by disobeying traffic signs in order to
escape traffic jams, Herman said.

Drivers of transit service minibuses staged massive sit-in
strikes early this month, leaving millions of commuters stranded.
Besides pointing out the higher fines, the protesters blamed
undisciplined, hardheaded commuters for forcing them to pick them
up and drop them off at prohibited places.

Herman said the operation against the pedestrians, bus
passengers and vendors has already been discussed with related
institutions, including the City Council, the Prosecutors Office
and the Judicial Affairs Office.

The one-month Operation Zebra, which involves more than 1,500
personnel from various institutions began on Sept. 26. It is
primarily aimed at improving the ethics and behavior of the
entire community in relation to the traffic system.

It is also designed to help provide a better image of the city
and its community to participants of the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) conference to be held in the capital and in
Bogor, some 70 kilometers southeast of here in November. (bsr)