Motorcycles in Jakarta

Motorcycles in Jakarta

As a person who commutes by motorcycle taxi (ojek) from my
home in Depok to my office in downtown Jakarta, I read with anger
Zatni Arbi's article (The Jakarta Post, June 13) and Soegih
Arto's letter (Post, June 18) about ridding Jakarta's streets of
motorcycles.

I think neither writer realizes that motorcycles are an
integral part of the transportation system in Jakarta. Some
residential areas are easily accessed by motorbikes. And many
activities are accomplished by motorcycle, such as courier
deliveries, postal deliveries and food deliveries, not to mention
the ojek.

Given all of this, any suggestion to get rid of motorcycles
from Jakarta's streets is illogical. Hopefully Governor Sutiyoso
is wise enough not to be provoked and will ignore such an idea.

If motorcycles aggravate traffic problems in Jakarta, the
solution is not to ban them.

MOHAMMAD MA'SUM
Jakarta