Modest boat faithfully serves Jakarta

Modest boat faithfully serves Jakarta

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the administration continues to dream about Jakartans
commuting en masse on boats along the river, residents are
already using one working river transportation system in the
city, however modest.

Along the Ciliwung River on the side of Jl. Gunung Sahari in
Central Jakarta, boats regularly cross the water transporting
residents who opt not to use the more-distant bridges that
connect neighborhoods in Pasar Baru with shops on the other side.

The modest boats do not charge their passengers much -- only
Rp 500 about 6 US cents) for one trip -- and are available
around the clock, seven days a week.

One of the boats crossing the five-meter gap, belongs to
Triyono, 23, and Adi, 19, brothers who live in Sunter, North
Jakarta.

The brothers have operated the boat for the past three months,
replacing their 63-year-old father who was on the job since 1972.
They took over the business after they were both laid off from a
construction company.

Built from a pieces of wood and painted in three colors: blue,
black and yellow, the boat has a small shelter for its
passengers, who are on board for less than 10 seconds.

A rope -- to help guide the brothers across the course -- is
tied at two platforms built on both river banks.

"Every day, we carry over 200 passengers," Adi told The
Jakarta Post, while relaxing beneath the shelter.

It was 2:30 p.m., after employees from the offices across the
river had returned from their lunch break, leaving him with no
passengers to carry.

"I will take home about Rp 100,000 today," he said -- somewhat
figuratively -- as both brothers took turns sleeping in the boat.

Triyono said there used to be at least three crossing boats on
the stream around the Gang Kelinci alley, a crowded neighborhood
of mostly ethnic Chinese shops, but now there was only one after
the administration built two footbridges in the area.

After the bridges, his father had to sell their nine other
boats, he said.

Nasrun, 42, the oldest son in the family and business manager,
said they had made a contract with a trading company, whose
employees paid with a voucher they could refund at any time.

"This kind of agreement has added a lot of income as almost
all its employees use our boats."

"We just hope that the city administration does not build
another bridge here," he said.

The city recently unveiled a plan to build its first river
transportation system serving passengers along the West Flood
Canal from Manggarai in South Jakarta, to Karet in Central
Jakarta, which experts have greeted with skepticism.

They said the project was too costly for the cash-strapped
city and said the officials appointed to the project had not
considered all the options.