On this day two years ago, Governor Fauzi Bowo and his running mate, retired army general Prijanto, were sworn into office after defeating rival Adang Daradjatun and his running mate, Dani Anwar.

Fauzi seized victory after serving the previous five years as deputy to then governor Sutiyoso, and more than 15 years in various posts in the city administration.

The mustachioed man, dubbed “the expert” during his campaign, promised his programs would focus on flood mitigation and traffic alleviation.

“I’m not yet aware [of any progress],” Sentha Setia, a passenger on a public bus who was on her way to Megaria in Central Jakarta, said Sunday.

“Jakarta is still synonymous with traffic jams.”

She was more optimistic about the flood-mitigation efforts, though, some of which are focused her home in Pedati, East Jakarta.

“I hope [the administration] finishes the East Flood Canal project soon,” Sentha said.

“They’re still digging near my house.”

The flood canal, proposed in a 1999 bylaw on city planning, is part of efforts to ease the constant flooding that takes a significant toll on the city’s economy.

Last year, Prijanto said losses from flooding ranged from Rp 7 trillion to Rp 8 trillion (US$740,000 to $850,000) a year, vivanews.com reported.

Fauzi has promised the project will be completed by the end of this year.

Darwin Silalahi, a tire patcher on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, said he was not impressed with how the city had progressed under Fauzi’s leadership.

“I live in Tanjung Priok [in North Jakarta], where there are lots of streets with potholes,” he said.
“During the rainy season, even a little rain causes flooding.”

Darwin, who faces the constant threat of raids by public order officials, said Jakartans should establish a forum to voice their demands and improve the quality of the administration’s services.

As for traffic jams, Darwin has his own solution.

“We have to reduce the number of cars,” he said.

Over at Kramat Jati Market in East Jakarta, roadside vendor Anton agrees.

“The number of cars and motorcycles must be reduced if we want to ease the traffic jams,” said Anton, who has traded in the area for more than 10 years now.

Last month, the market head announced to vendors selling their wares on the roadside that the streets around the market would be repaired, thus shutting out some of the vendors.

“The road [leading to the market] is more spacious now, because some of the roadside vendors have gone,” said Martu’ah, who makes Rp 50,000 a day selling strawberries from West Java next to Anton’s wife’s underwear stall.

The remaining vendors now display their goods on plastic sheets, because they can no longer put up stalls.

“We have to follow the rules to keep on trading. It’s a shame that drivers had to endure the traffic jams,” Martu’ah said.

When Popo, a mural artist, tried to express his support of the capital, traffic and all, he was betrayed by the city administration.

“I painted ‘Jangan pucet lihat Jakarta macet’ [Don’t go pale upon seeing Jakarta’s traffic jams] on the walls of the Dukuh Atas tunnel in Manggarai [in South Jakarta],” he said.

“A day later, the administration, which had permitted me to do that, erased it.”

Popo said he was just trying to explain the nature of the capital to newcomers.

The city administration needs to get more in touch with the city’s youth and artists, he said.

“There isn’t any two-way communication [between the administration and artists]; they should consult artists about what they want and need,” Popo said.

“My fellow artists and I celebrated Jakarta’s founding anniversary our own way, by making art. We enjoyed it but sometimes we feel unappreciated.

“The city’s artistic and cultural activities should be taken more seriously,” he added.

Much of the support for art events usually comes from private institutions, and not the city administration, said musician and graphic artist Saleh Husein.

“Sometimes organizations like Goethe [the Goethe Institut, the German cultural center] and the CCF [French Cultural Center] are more concerned [about our activities],” he said.

Saleh also pointed out the need for constant communication between the authorities and the city’s artists.

“[The administration] should consult young, emerging artists to enrich the city’s art events,” he said.
Jakarta needs more, and bigger, art events, Saleh said.

This year, the Jakarta Art Biennale, organized by the administration-sponsored Jakarta Arts Council, attracted large crowds, some from overseas.

But that was the only large event partly sponsored by the city last year, and it was not an annual one.

The Biennale organizer also complained that although the art event was the city’s own program, the event organizer still had to pay taxes and go through the bureaucratic red tape for permits.

“We should organize an event that can take over a whole street, such as Cikini [in Central Jakarta],” Saleh said. (dis)

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