Sutiyoso ordered to fix traffic jams
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto ordered the newly installed Jakarta Governor Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso yesterday to eradicate slum areas and reduce traffic congestion in the city.
The President also asked the governor to hold more dialogs with various ethnic communities in an effort to reduce interethnic conflict.
"The President told me to use my whole energy and thoughts to enable me to lead the country's capital well," Sutiyoso said after meeting with Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office.
Soeharto said the construction of low-cost apartments was the only alternative to reducing slum areas due to land scarcity.
"The people living in slum areas must be convinced the conversion of slum areas and their removal from there are not aimed at destroying their life but improving it," Sutiyoso said.
The city is home to about nine million people and has more than 2.1 million cars. Roads in Jakarta cover 6,000 kilometers, while the city's total area is only 661.26 square kilometers.
Sutiyoso was installed on Oct. 6, replacing Surjadi Soedirdja.
On street congestion, Sutiyoso said that not less than 1.5 million vehicles use Jakarta's streets everyday. He said he is still studying the best ways to solve traffic problems.
The governor also disclosed his plan to privatize city parking management and abolish the "three-in-one" areas during rush hours.
"I will review the policy because why should we maintain an ineffective policy?" he asked.
He said he might introduce monthly stickers for entering certain, congested areas during rush hours.
The city applies a requirement for a minimum three passengers in a car from 6.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jl. Jendral Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto thoroughfares.
However, motorists can easily pass the streets by paying jockeys -- people earning money by being the third passenger in restricted areas.
"We are still studying the best ways to solve this problem," he said.
Soeharto also told Sutiyoso to pay more serious attention and listen to the aspirations of ethnic minorities living in Jakarta.
"Jakarta is the main migration destination for people across the country. It highlights perfectly (the principle of) unity in diversity," said the former Jakarta Military commander.
Jakarta was often described as "honey" for migrant "ants" because its average income per capita in 1996 was US$3,600, much higher than the country's income per capita which was only $1,155 for the same year.
The capital's budget for 1997/1998 is expected to be about Rp 3.369 trillion ($910 million).
Most of the migrants in Jakarta are from West Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta, East Java, North Sumatra, South Sumatra and West Sumatra, according to 1996 Jakarta statistics.
The President also instructed the governor to stop student brawls and enforce discipline among Jakartans.
"We must enforce discipline in basic elements ranging from queuing, disposing litter in the proper place and in punctuality, because many civil servants still do not come to work on time," the governor said.
In September, the public order office recorded 12 cases of brawls in which three students died, 13 were injured and 147 others briefly detained for questioning.
This month, three students have died in student brawls. (prb)