Replacement 3-in-1 system sought
JAKARTA (JP): As the three-in-one policy in restricted areas has only created a problem with traffic jockeys, the city administration is now looking for a new, more suitable system to handle traffic congestion during rush hours, an official said on Wednesday.
"Governor Sutiyoso has ordered a review of the policy as it has only attracted children to serve as three-in-one traffic jockeys," head of the City Traffic and Land Transportation Agency Buyung Atang told The Jakarta Post.
"We have detained more than 1,200 jockeys and fined more than 1,400 drivers. Yet, the jockeys keep returning and the drivers continue using them," he said.
He said his agency had conducted research for the past three weeks by temporarily revoking the policy in an effort to calculate the number of private vehicles passing the restricted zones.
"We didn't announce the provisional revocation of the policy as it would hamper our evaluation. Everyone would then pass through the restricted zones," he said, while insisting that the policy was still in effect.
"Even without a public announcement, the number of cars entering the zones has jumped about 200 percent," he added.
He said there were about 89,000 private vehicles passing through the restricted streets per week before the policy was revoked. Now, the number has jumped to 180,000.
He dismissed speculation that the city administration would revoke the policy and impose a sticker system to overcome traffic congestion.
"There's no such plan. We're just evaluating the three-in-one policy. The rest is up to the governor," Buyung said.
He admitted, however, that there was a 1998 Presidential Decree No. 50 which allowed the city administration to impose a sticker system.
"The governor listened to residents opposed to the sticker system and continued with the three-in-one policy," he said.
The sticker system drew opposition from many areas, including the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI).
Sutiyoso said earlier on Tuesday that with the sticker system the city administration would secure revenues to subsidize public transportation expenditures.
"The money collected from stickers could be spent to subsidize the transportation owners' expenditures or to buy new buses," he said.
"The current condition of our public transportation is very bad. Look at those buses of the state-owned PPD bus company," he added.
Separately, deputy chairperson of YLKI, Agus Pambagio regretted Sutiyoso's decision to secretly revoke the administration's three-in-one policy.
"The policy is a public policy, in which the public took part in the planning and execution stages. Therefore, any instruction or revocation should also be made public," said Agus on the sidelines of a seminar at the Ministry of Transportation building.
He lashed out at the governor, accusing him of lacking sensitivity to the people's interests.
"The decision has caused a great impact on jockeys since they will lose their jobs," he said.
"It will increase criminal activities on the street because jobless jockeys may commit crimes on the street," he added.
Agus demanded that the city administration make an announcement to end the confusion whether the policy was still in effect or not.
"We only read it in the media. The decision should be made public to end confusion," he said.
He supported the plan to replace the three-in-one policy, but suggested a thorough discussion before deciding a new system.
"We should publicly discuss the liability of the recently- proposed sticker system before the administration puts the policy into effect," he said. (asa/nvn)