Three new flyovers; in Kalibata, South Jakarta; Penggilingan,

Three new flyovers; in Kalibata, South Jakarta; Penggilingan,
East Jakarta and Galur in Central Jakarta, opened last Wednesday
in a bid to ease traffic congestion.

Several other flyovers and underpasses are and will be built
in the five mayoralties overseen by the Jakarta administration.

Traffic jams occur in almost parts of the city, and the
flyover and underpass projects have certainly worsened the
situation during the construction phase.

The uncontrolled increase in the number of vehicles and the
indifference of motorists, pedestrians and other road users,
contribute to the problems.

Worse, the city administration seems to be oblivious to the
problems the projects cause and have done little to relieve the
problems.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta

The most corrupt state

During the last two weeks, the media has been reporting
corruption and bribery allegations against councillors in several
provinces. A number of legislators are being detained for
corruption.

Coincidentally, Transparency International (TI) revealed the
results of its survey at a seminar in Jakarta last week, ranking
Indonesia at 96 on a list of the 102 most corrupt countries in
the world.

The rating was based on the Indonesian corruption perception
index, which reached 1.9 out of 10 in 2002.

In terms of poverty, Indonesia is poorer than Vietnam, which
came in at 87 on the corruption list.

It is not the first time the independent TI has highlighted
Indonesia's corruption. TI chief Peter Eigen has warned us of the
hazards of corruption, which could erode the people's trust in
democracy.

Eigen has also demanded that the political elites be serious
about eradicating corruption. Corruption does affect foreign
investment in the country.

The question now is, will the government take Eigen's warning
seriously? Is the government really serious in developing good
governance by eradicating corruption, collusion and nepotism?

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta