What has become of the Jakarta busway project?

What has become of the Jakarta busway project?

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, Coordinator Forum of Jakarta Residents
(FAKTA), Jakarta, azastigor@yahoo.com

It has been quite a while since we last heard of the busway
project, which the Jakarta provincial administration said would
kick off late in 2003.

The last media report about the project was related to the
additional budget of Rp 34 billion, that the Jakarta provincial
administration submitted to the legislative assembly. Earlier, in
late July 2003, the project attracted our attention when one of
the technical assistants from the Institute for Transportation
and Development Policy (ITDP), John Earns, and a Brazilian expert
in technical engineering, Paulo Custodio, came to Indonesia. Both
were speakers in an introduction of the busway system sponsored
by the privately-run Pelangi Foundation.

The two men expressed their optimism in the mass public
transportation project by drawing comparisons with a project
called Transmilenio in Bogota, Colombia (Kompas, July 31, 2003).
Earns believed that the project in Jakarta, slated to be
completed in 2007, would be successful because the city had
broader streets than Bogota. Custodio said he believed that
transportation problems in Jakarta resembled those prevailing in
Bogota.

However, the comparison was very unfair and will only lower
the reputation of city officials, including Governor Sutiyoso.

Maybe The Pelangi Foundation and the two foreign experts did
not have the heart to be honest about the great differences
between the two cities, in terms of social and political
contexts, as well as the mentality of the city bureaucracy.
Bogota is also three times larger than Jakarta.

Bogota's city center is as large as Bandung and neatly laid
out in a European manner, unlike Jakarta, a city lacking an
appropriate development plan. Bogota is populated by about seven
million people, the unemployment rate between 16 and 18 percent.
Jakarta, on the other hand, boasts a population of 10 million
with scores of unemployed people living in poverty.

Another difference between Jakarta and Bogota lies in the
circumstances of Jakarta's governor, and former Bogota mayor
Enrique Penallosa (who began the Transmilenio program in 1988).

This program is continued by the new mayor, Antanas Mockus.
Both Penallosa and Mockus come from educated circles. Penallosa
was a directly elected mayor supported by 60 percent of Bogota
residents. Like his predecessor, Mockus was also directly
elected. But, in contrast, Sutiyoso was not directly elected; he
was supported by 47 out of 85 members of the Jakarta legislative
assembly.

As a guest in Bogota in early February 2003, I witnessed
Mockus' popularity. Residents rushed to shake hands with him the
moment he got out from his car. Even sidewalk vendors joined the
jubilant flock of people wishing to shake his hand. Likewise,
wherever Penallosa walked, motorists shouted and waved to him. A
student told me that Penallosa and Mockus were the best mayors
Bogota had ever had.

It would be difficult to see a similar relationship between
Sutiyoso and the residents of Jakarta.

It is worth noting that Bogota has a 200-kilometer-long
network of roads for pedestrians and motorcyclists. Both
Penallosa and Mockus realized that corruption had long plagued
the city bureaucracy. However, their Transmilenio program
involved the residents of the city, in an indication that the
mayoralty was ready for direct control. So, slowly but surely, it
seems they are able to eliminate corruption from the bureaucracy.

Unfortunately, Sutiyoso is not prepared to involve the
residents in such programs. That is why -- although there is
evidence of corruption within the provincial bureaucracy of
Jakarta -- legal proceedings have never taken place.

In the busway project, worth Rp 2.7 billion, the establishment
of bus lanes and bus stops is not offered through an open bid.
Irregularities are also suspected in the project's budget.
Initially, the city administration requested Rp 86 billion to be
allocated to the project in the 2003 Jakarta provincial budget;
but asked for an additional Rp 34 billion for unclear reasons.

It is now September 2003, but we are yet to be informed which
company will mark the roads and which will supply the buses.
Also, the people are still in the dark when it comes to the
transportation operators to manage the busway.

We fear the project officers will argue that -- given that
time is running out for the project's commencement -- an open
tender is unnecessary, and finally the city administration will
simply appoint certain companies to carry out the project.

Judging by past experience, the city administration might
inflate the budget and then authorize the appointed companies to
purchase new buses. The bus supply is also vulnerable to
wrongdoings. The original price of a bus -- around Rp 750 million
-- may be marked up to Rp 800 million.

All this produces skepticism, particularly of the idea that
the ambitious busway project will be a success in Jakarta.

The writer is also coordinator of Citizens' Coalition for
Transportation in Jakarta.