Tangerang puzzled by thousands of pedicabs

TANGERANG (JP): The Jakarta Administration has imposed a ban on becak (pedicab) in the capital; the streets of the neighboring Tangerang administration, however, are now teeming with around 5,000 pedicabs.

Pedicabs have mushroomed in Tangerang, causing heavy traffic congestion and other disturbances, as they often ignore road directions, particularly one-way street signs.

Among the roads currently jammed by pedicabs are the main thoroughfares of Benteng Jaya and Ki Asnawi. They also crowd almost every intersection in the city.

Tangerang City spokesman Sabar Situmorang said the local administration had set a limit of 3,000 pedicabs in the city.

"But it is hard to drive them away as they come from outside the city," Sabar said, adding that most of them had come from Java, and had failed to obtain permits to operate in Jakarta.

"It's true that we are facing problems with their existence but, honestly, we don't know what to do with them," Sabar said.

The administration is to charge illegal street vendors as well as pedicabs violating existing regulations, he said.

Tangerang, however, has not yet banned pedicabs from operating.

Most pedicab drivers said they had no other choice but to make a living from driving.

"I have no skills or proper educational background. This is my life. Otherwise, how am I going to live?" Muhidin, a pedicab driver for three years, said.

Other pedicab drivers said they couldn't possibly get other jobs in the current economic climate.

"Before the crisis there were many construction projects to work on ... from building roads and houses to repairing drains. But now, we have no choice," a pedicab driver from Central Java said.

Many residents, however, expressed their support for the pedicab, saying it was a cheap mode of personal transportation that can also be used for goods.

"It's such a multipurpose vehicle. If there are no becak, how could we go to the market or carry our shopping?" Ety, a housewife, said.

The pedicab is known to be one of the most traditional and effective means of transportation in Java. But their existence on the city's streets, busy with cars, buses and trucks, is something of an anomaly.

Many pedicab drivers also lack an awareness of traffic regulations.

President Abdurrahman Wahid ended a prolonged dispute between the city administration and pedicab drivers last year, when he met with some 10,000 poor people, including pedicab drivers, at the Senayan Sports Stadium in Central Jakarta.

"Peddling a becak is inhumane," said Gus Dur, as the President is popularly known.

He supported the Jakarta Administration's move to ban pedicabs from operating on the city's streets. At least 6,621 pedicabs are currently operating on the capital's streets, with approximately 95 percent of the drivers being non-Jakarta residents.

In a move to accelerate the establishment of a becak-free Jakarta, the administration had offered to buy each pedicab for Rp 250,000 (US$35.7) and to provide a transportation allowance for any pedicab drivers willing to return to their hometowns.

Most drivers operating in Jakarta come from Cirebon in West Java; and Banyumas, Tegal, Brebes and Pekalongan in Central Java. (41/edt)