Sutiyoso puts brakes on 3-in-1 policy

Sutiyoso puts brakes on 3-in-1 policy

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The tryout of the new extended three-in-one traffic policy,
slated for Monday, skidded to a stop on Friday during a five-hour
closed-door discussion between Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso and the
busway project team.

Sutiyoso postponed the discussion on the controversial issue
to Monday.

"Considering input from transportation experts, the public and
the Ministry of Communications officials, we've decided to
continue the discussion on Monday. There's no conclusion yet,"
said busway team head Irzal Djamal, who is also the assistant to
the city secretary for development affairs.

Sutiyoso was attending a presentation on the busway project,
which includes the extension of the three-in-one policy, by the
busway project team. A day earlier, the team had presented the
project, to kick off on Jan. 15, to officials with the Ministry
of Communications.

Repeatedly asked if the three-in-one policy would still be
implemented on Monday, Irzal vaguely said that "I can't give a
fixed decision now, the final decision will be taken on Monday."

Had the meeting been successful, the governor was scheduled to
sign a gubernatorial decree on Saturday as the legal basis for
the implementation of the policy.

The new policy requires a vehicle to carry at least three
people, including the driver when traveling on the busway
corridor from Blok M, South Jakarta, to Kota, West Jakarta.
Sutiyoso earlier stated his preference to extend the policy
throughout the day, from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Irzal did not say why the meeting ended in a deadlock, simply
calling the discussion "interesting".

"There were no critical pros and cons. It was simply
interesting and the governor said that we should continue the
discussion later because he had other activities," said Irzal.

He added that his team stuck to its proposal, which was the
implementation of the busway project, including extending the
three-in-one policy and barring cars with certain license plate
numbers from entering the central zone on certain days.

The meeting's failure contradicts Sutiyoso's statement during
a break. He told reporters to "wait until the meeting ends. I
will go in (the meeting room) for a while and tell you the
decision on the issues".

"I will make the best decision. Of course, some people will
consider it bad, but I'm just proposing ideas. We'll see what the
public wants," he said.

Responding to Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar's
earlier suggestion that the busway project be postponed, Sutiyoso
said that "He does not know what we have planned. This is the
city's authority, so he should stick to monitoring".

Sutiyoso also said that he did not see any reason for delaying
the project since all preparations were on schedule.

"I don't think we should delay this again because it's been
postponed. If its ready, we'll launch the project," he said.
However, he added that the project could be postponed again if
obstacles prevailed or if the facilities were not ready.

For the initial phase, there will only be 56 buses to
transport 20,000 of a total 60,000 commuters from Blok M to Kota.
The city plans to add 50 more buses later next year.