Residents Flood Complaints to Ijoel over Damaged Roads, Analyst: Sign of Government System Not Yet Optimal

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — The content creator Ijoel, who went viral for repairing damaged roads in Jakarta, has triggered a wave of complaints from residents regarding public facilities. Detta Rahmawan, a lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Communication, Media, Culture, and Information Systems Studies at the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran, assesses that this situation indicates the government’s complaint system is not yet functioning optimally. “When many residents end up relying on that individual, it actually shows that there is a system that isn’t working or isn’t perfect yet,” Detta said when contacted by Kompas.com by telephone on Saturday (11/4/2026). However, she warns that it would be dangerous if the government relies on certain individuals to resolve residents’ problems. According to her, solving public service issues cannot be burdened on specific figures or groups. “If the government relies on individuals and doesn’t build a system, that’s actually misguided. That’s where the problem lies. It’s actually dangerous if public services are made the responsibility of certain individuals,” she explained. Detta does not deny that Jakarta, as the capital, already has a digital complaint system that is considered good in Indonesia. However, she assesses that the use of digital applications still has gaps if not accompanied by strict supervision and ongoing system maintenance. One of them is the reporting method through the Jakarta Kini (JAKI) application, which has recently come under scrutiny due to allegations of falsified reports. “Especially if it involves more and more parties using it. Digital ills are usually just hype at the beginning, but in the long term, it becomes lacking, with insufficient maintenance,” Detta said. “So that it’s not continuously reactive, the system that is built must be managed well. Creators can be used as complements only, not to rely entirely on them,” she stated. Detta highlights the government’s response, which she assesses as only moving quickly when an issue goes viral on social media. According to her, the government must work based on the system, not pressure from algorithms. “What is an influencer brings attention, brings spotlight, and then they respond quickly and so on. But when there’s no attention, the problem comes back; is the system still running or not?” Detta said.