Pulogadung problem-ridden bus terminal to be moved

Pulogadung problem-ridden bus terminal to be moved

By Muninggar Sri Saraswati

JAKARTA (JP): When you arrive in Pulogadung bus terminal,
East Jakarta, your first impression will be: Terrible! That is
certain, no doubt about it.

The largest bus station in the city is notorious for its
disorganized state and crime.

Head of Pulogadung bus station, Nadias Sjam, said that at
least 1,200 city and inter-city public buses use the 3.5-hectare
terminal every day. During major holidays, such as Lebaran (the
Muslim holiday after Ramadhan), Christmas, and school holidays,
the number can reach up to 2,000.

Drivers park their buses wherever they like, not where the
management has ruled, causing traffic jams both inside and
outside the terminal.

Street vendors, selling many types of good, make the condition
worse. As they occupy almost half the road space, the buses can
only trickle in and out of the bus terminal. With their presence,
the terminal seems more like a traditional market than a bus
terminal.

"We have provided space for vendors in the terminal. However,
it could not accommodate all of them," he told The Jakarta Post
recently, adding that the station management had tried to keep
them in order, but they refused to comply with the regulations.

Nadias said the disorganization partly resulted from the fact
that the terminal could no longer accommodate the buses.

"More than 700 buses from towns in Java, Sumatra, Bali and
West Nusa Tenggara, and over 500 public city buses here use the
terminal every day," he said.

The situation now is very different from when it was first
opened in 1976. Nadias claimed that there were only several
houses in the terminal's surroundings at that time, but now it is
surrounded by many housing and industrial areas.

"The more housing complexes are built around here, the more
crowded this terminal becomes," he told the Post.

"Passengers are not disciplined either. If they stopped taking
buses from outside the terminal, I believe drivers would stop
looking for passengers there," he remarked.

Street vendor Bahtiar insisted that street vendors were not
the only factor causing the disorganization.

"I think bus stations are always disorganized everywhere in
this country, so what's the big deal?" said Bahtiar, who claimed
that he had been selling goods there for more than five years.

Bahtiar, who sells clothes, refused to move since he could
attract more customers by selling goods outside the station than
inside.

"Look, most of the drivers park their buses outside here as
well to get additional passengers," he remarked, adding that such
behavior had worsened the traffic jams.

Simarmata, a driver of a bus plying the Jakarta-Lampung route,
blamed the city administration for constructing only two-lane
terminal roads. He also claimed that the roads themselves were
too narrow.

"We stop here only for a moment, just in case there are still
passengers who want to travel on our buses," he said.

Meanwhile, a passenger said that he would take a bus outside
if possible as those waiting outside would depart sooner than
those inside the terminal.

"When a bus parks outside, it means it will depart soon,"
Alfons, who was about to go to Bima in Sumbawa, West Nusa
Tenggara, told the Post.

Nadias admitted that the crime rate was also high in the
terminal. "But crimes occur mostly at peak times, such as during
Lebaran or Christmas," he remarked.

Data from Pulogadung police station reveals that the number
of crimes can reach more than 35 cases per day, including
pickpocketing and swindling. But most complaints are about
pickpocketing.

Wawan, a street vendor, said that crimes had become part of
the station's daily life. "Hoodlums can be found in almost every
part of the station," he said.

He said criminals victimized not only passengers as they also
affected vendors like him. "I have to pay (an illegal levy of)
some Rp 1,500 (US 18 cents) per day to hoodlums, while drivers
pay Rp 500," he explained.

Given such a state of affairs, the city administration plans
to relocate the bus terminal to Pulogebang, about 10 kilometers
to the east, hoping that it can eliminate all the problems. Will
it succeed?

Analysts have warned that relocating will only end up creating
the same problems in a different place.