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.