Pedicabs still needed in Bintaro Jaya
Pedicabs still needed in Bintaro Jaya
By Arief Suditomo
JAKARTA (JP): The becak (pedicabs) still provide a valuable means of transportation for residents in Bintaro Jaya although their presence has now begun to irritate the real estate management and motorists.
"We recognize that they are providing a useful alternative means of transportation for people in Bintaro Jaya," S. Purwanto, the Chief of Bintaro Jaya Environmental Dept., said in an interview with The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Bintaro Jaya, in the southern outskirts of Jakarta, is one of the fastest growing areas in the metropolitan city. Only Bintaro Jaya Sector I and part of Sector II are located in Jakarta, where the becak has been officially banned since 1991. Sectors III to IX fall within the Tangerang jurisdiction and therefore becak are still permitted to roam the streets.
Purwanto dismissed the argument put forth by some motorists that the notorious traffic congestion in Bintaro Jaya was attributed to the uncontrollable presence of the becak.
Purwanto blamed the congestion on the fact that residents from neighboring real estates are using Bintaro Jaya every day as their access route to and from their homes.
"There are 38 housing estates which use our main roads as a route to reach town. This contributes to the traffic problems in the Bintaro area, not the becak," Purwanto said.
The Becak, which provides a convenient and cheap means of transportation for short distance, was phased out from Jakarta because its presence was considered a major traffic nightmare.
Many residents in Bintaro Jaya use the becak to send their children to school, to get to the supermarkets, or visit friends within the real estate complex.
Bintaro Jaya, which is owned by PT. Jaya Real Property, is a vast real estate spread over 900 hectares of land. Approximately 7,205 houses have so far been built on a 500-hectare area, housing more than 35,000 people.
Purwanto admitted that the real estate management has a problem with the presence of the becak because they could not be managed or controlled.
Many of the becak drivers use the parks, painstakingly cared for and tended by the real estate management, as their hangout place.
"They often park their becak on our gardens and parks which are off limits to people except for the gardeners," Purwanto said.
Bintaro Jaya real estate management once tried to coordinate and manage the becak, even distributing uniforms the drivers, but the program failed because becak drivers are mostly seasonal workers, he said.
"There were times when we had so many of them, and there were also times when we could hardly find one," he said
Rudi Hartono, one of Purwanto's staff, added that the becak drivers also refused to be managed because they were suspicious of the company's intentions.
"They suspect that if we manage them and start allocating space for their operation, it will be easier for city security and order officers to come and seize them," Rudi said.
Becak drivers interviewed separately did not take too kindly to the accusation that they were causing the traffic jams in Bintaro Jaya.
Sunarto, a becak driver from Tegal, Central Java, who has been working in the area since 1984, said, "How could we create a traffic jam. There are less than 100 becak here."
His colleague Supandi, also from Tegal, added that as becak drivers rarely use the main roads it was inconceivable that they should be blamed for the traffic jams.
Supandi said becak drivers avoid the main roads because they cannot compete with the cheaper and faster minibuses.
Another colleague, Jati, said the Jakarta security and order unit, which frequently came to the area preying on becak drivers, acts beyond its authority.
"They still chase us knowing that we are operating in Tangerang, where the becak is still permitted," he said.