Road barriers outside Oz embassy to stay

Road barriers outside Oz embassy to stay

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Attention motorists: Traffic jams caused by the road barriers
in front of the Australian Embassy on Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan,
South Jakarta will probably continue for the next few months.

Australian Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth O'Neill said on
Wednesday repair work to the embassy was unfinished making it
impossible for the road barriers blocking the slow lane in front
of the embassy to be removed right now.

"The road closure is only temporary, and we have been in
discussion with the Jakarta administration and other authorities
about the timing of its reopening. We expect that this will
happen in the next few months," O'Neill told The Jakarta Post.

Motorists have complained about traffic jams in front of the
embassy, particularly during rush hours, due to the barriers
established following the bombing last September, in which 11
people were killed and over 180 injured.

Ira, 27, an employee of a private bank on Jl. Rasuna Said said
she gets stuck in traffic outside the embassy every afternoon.

"I travel by bus every day. It creeps past the embassy in the
slow lane for at least half an hour. What could they be building
that takes almost a year to finish?" she told the Post.

O'Neill asked for the patience of Jakartans as the bombing had
caused serious damage to the embassy, which required substantial
repair work.

She said the heightened security of the building would provide
better protection for both Australian staff and the large number
of Indonesians employed at the embassy.

Beside the Australian Embassy building, complaints have also
been made over the concrete barriers in front of the U.S. Embassy
building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan.

Press reports on Wednesday said that Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso
had asked the two embassies to remove the barriers in front of
their buildings.

Sutiyoso said while he understood their concerns over security
he would send letters to the embassies if they did not remove the
barriers once the construction was finished.