Traffic and APEC

A suggestion has been made to declare Nov. 14 and Nov. 15 as public holidays in Jakarta to ease the traffic for the convenience of delegates to the meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

The suggestion made by State Secretary Moerdiono, in his capacity as head of the APEC meeting organizing committee, is logical because it is our obligation as host to ensure the comfort of our honored guests.

Now, it all depends on the public. The traffic diversion test conducted on Tuesday, in which two main roads were blocked, paralyzed the entire city.

So, what should we do? Should we stay home, or go to work, or school, despite the traffic congestion?

Moerdiono said the holidays were also suggested to prevent the public from having to face such heavy traffic congestion.

There are some who may think that it would be nice to have the unexpected holiday. Others might say we must remember that two days of work will be lost. It could be said, however, that even if we don't go to work, or school, the two days won't be wasted because we can follow the sessions of the meeting through the television. Furthermore, missing the time at work and school could be seen as a contribution Jakartans can make to the meeting.

Can we say that this is the end of the issue? Not at all. This international meeting has made us aware about just how serious a problem we are having with our traffic. APEC, or no APEC, we are facing traffic jams every day. Hopefully this APEC momentum will drive us to seek a solution to the traffic problem once and for all.

-- Kompas, Jakarta