Sutiyoso urged to reveal five-year plan immediately
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A week after his inauguration, Governor Sutiyoso has not announced his plans for the city, prompting urban analysts to urge the city's chief executive to immediately announce the program for his second five-year term.
Paulus Wirutomo, a sociologist who often deals with urban affairs, said that the familiarization of the city's five-year plan among the public would encourage them to prepare for its implementation.
"People have the right to know what Sutiyoso will do during his next five year term as this is closely related to people's futures," Paulus told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Sutiyoso and Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo, who were elected by the City Council on Sept. 11, were inaugurated by Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno last Monday. But people are still in the dark about their program as they have not made a clear statement about their priorities for the city.
Similar comments came from Setiawati, the deputy chairman of the Bandar Jakarta Foundation, which is concerned with heritage issues in the city, who said that no matter how good the program was, it would lack significance if the public was not involved.
"How can people take part in the city administration's program if they do not know what to do? I think Sutiyoso should know that the people are now waiting for his program, which should be more people-oriented," Setiawati told the Post.
Meanwhile, City Hall spokesman Muhayat said Sutiyoso and Fauzi, and City Hall officials were still drafting the administration's strategic plan for the next five years, which would be submitted to the City Council next month.
He said that Sutiyoso's priorities included transportation, demography, education and emergency planning for flood victims.
According to Muhayat, in the transportation sector, the city administration would reduce its dependency on the central government and private sector.
Muhayat said that transportation in the city was chaotic as the city administration could not directly control all transportation companies, with commuter trains still being the responsibility of the central government and city buses being run by the central government and private sector.
He added that the administration would take a stake in transportation by developing the busway project connecting Blok M in South Jakarta and the Kota area of Central Jakarta, the implementation of which has been delayed.
In the demographic sector, the city administration would go ahead with its plan to control the flow of migrants into the city, Muhayat told the Post.
While waiting for a commitment from the central government to seeking a comprehensive solution to flooding in the city, the city administration was now focusing on how to help the victims of the annual floods.
Both Paulus and Setiawati stressed that for his next five-year term, Sutiyoso should put priority on unresolved problems from his previous five-year term, including the issues of poverty, street vendors, flooding and slums.
Paulus, who is a lecturer in the University of Indonesia (UI), stressed that all the programs to be introduced by the governor should aim to improve the welfare of all Jakarta people, with the emphasis being on improving the welfare of poor people.
Setiawati said that during his next term, Sutiyoso should avoid wasteful projects like the Rp 14 billion renovation of the Welcome Monument at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta and the fencing off of the National Monument (Monas) Park, which will cost over Rp 9 billion.
"Such projects should not be given priority in the future as there are still many other projects that require serious attention, including how to help poor people afford their minimum necessities," she explained.