Sutiyoso urged to reveal five-year plan immediately

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.