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.