Semarang, Surabaya win best traffic awards

Semarang, Surabaya win best traffic awards

JAKARTA (JP): Semarang and Surabaya, the capitals of Central
Java and East Java, respectively, won this year's government
awards for the best metropolitan cities in terms of traffic
management.

Jakarta, the largest metropolis in the country which is still
feting the Parasamya Purna Karya Nugraha award for its
development achievement, was conspicuously absent.

President Soeharto yesterday also awarded the Wahana Tata
Nugraha award to 21 cities in the big, middle and small
categories for their achievements on the traffic front,
particularly in improving their residents' awareness to improve
the traffic situation.

Among the big cities which received trophies this year are
Padang in West Sumatra, Bandarlampung in Lampung and Surakarta in
Central Java. Middle-sized cities which received accolades
included Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Jember in East Java,
Bogor in West Java and Denpasar in Bali. Gianyar and Tabanan in
Bali, Batusangkar in West Sumatra and Blitar in East Java, were
thee winners in the small city category.

In his speech at the State Palace, Soeharto pointed out that
"order and safety in transportation are the key to efficiency of
the transportation infrastructures and facilities."

The President acknowledged that traffic chaos remains the
order of the day in most cities one year after the tough 1992
Traffic Law came into force.

"Every day there are victims of traffic accidents. Traffic
jams develop regularly in rush hours in most city centers," he
said. "If we don't do anything about it, we will have more
victims and more losses to carry."

Last year, over 16,000 traffic accidents took place across the
archipelago, resulting in more than 9,000 deaths.

Soeharto yesterday used the ceremony to launch the national
conference of the Ministry of Transportation to discuss its
programs and budget for the 1995/1996 fiscal year. (par)