Stickers burdensome

Stickers burdensome

From Bisnis Indonesia

In response to the plan to enforce a sticker system on
restricted roads in Jakarta, presently known as the three-in-one
zone, allow me to contribute the following ideas, which,
hopefully, may draw the attention of the Jakarta governor and the
City Council:

1. What is the basis on which the Jakarta administration has
decided to collect a levy on residents passing public
areas/roads, the development and construction of which are in
fact financed by the people?

2. To us, there is no urgency needed in enforcing the sticker
system if it is intended only to ease traffic in certain areas.
It must be realized that the enforcement of this system will only
cause traffic congestion in other areas, especially if the roads
are also restricted in the afternoon.

3. It must always be kept in mind that our people are now
shouldering a heavy burden caused by the economic crisis, which
has made the prices of daily commodities (food and clothing) to
soar while salaries remain as they are. (People consider
themselves lucky if their salaries are not cut or if they are not
laid off.)

4. Now that the rates of electricity, telephone and drinking
water have also risen, it is unreasonable to expect people to
spend an additional Rp 10,000 a day just to pass the roads on
which the sticker system is being enforced.

5. Do not assume that car owners are well-off people, because
to the residents of Jakarta a car is one of life's necessities.
If the government can provide comfortable and safe public
transportation, such as what people in our neighboring countries
can enjoy, people would be more than willing to make use of
public transportation. Unless out of necessity, why should one
own a car considering that the cost of maintenance is already
very high?

6. As the government collects vehicle registration from owners
every year, it need not subject a vehicle owner to another levy.

7. Won't the management of the proceeds from the sticker sales
give rise to new problems (such as corruption, collusion and so
forth), considering that supervising the sales of such stickers
is no easy and simple matter?

The complexity of the problems related to the SEA Games
stickers (still unsolved) is still fresh in our minds. Do not
cause people more resentment by introducing a new regulation that
will only burden them and end up in nothing but corruption.

8. The authorities must also anticipate the likelihood of new
congestion points resulting from lines of cars waiting to buy
stickers every time they are on the point of entering these
restricted areas. We must take pity on our police officers
because checking stickers stuck on automobiles one by one will
only strain their eyes.

9. So, I think the Jakarta administration had better stick to
the existing regulation on the restricted zone. As for the
complaint that the present regulation, which stipulates that only
cars carrying a minimum of three passengers can enter the
restricted zone, is ineffective because of the presence of some
people who accept money from car drivers to help them meet the
required number of passengers, just let the regulation stay
because car drivers willingly pay these people.

Don't compel car owners to pay a certain sum of money when in
the end the money cannot be accounted for because it has gone to
only God knows where.

Name and address

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