Traffic jam on Jl. Diponegoro

Hundreds of vehicles heading in the direction of Jl. Salemba Raya, a major road in Central Jakarta, were trapped in a massive traffic jam on Jl. Diponegoro Saturday afternoon due to poor work of a contractor doing road repairs near the Metropole 21 cinema.

Many students taking public buses grumbled because they arrived late at their schools due to the bumper-to-bumper traffic. The congestion was estimated to span more than three kilometers.

The massive traffic jam occurred due to the bottleneck prior to the intersection of Jl. Diponegoro, Jl. Cikini and Jl. Proklamasi, all in Central Jakarta.

Vehicles had to take turns in passing through the section of road as one lane of the two-lane road was dug by the contractor some time ago as part of a program aimed at leveling and resurfacing the bumpy road with better asphalt.

No workers were seen at the work site.

Motorists called on the Public Work Ministry to immediately solve the problem. (bsr)