Every time heavy rain pours for a few hours, traffic chaos will immediately follow in Jakarta because many roads turn into small ponds. It is just brief rainfall. And the situation is always much worse when rainy season comes. And many Jakartans - perhaps even most of them - will quickly point their finger at Governor Fauzi Bowo as the one most responsible for the traffic chaos we have to face after the rain. We are outraged by the incompetence of the city administration. But how about our deeds?
Many residents of this city think that they have done their most important task: paying tax, in various forms. And in return we act like spoiled children. Paying tax alone is far from enough to become good citizens of this capital city. We should act responsibly. Many of us act shamelessly and their irresponsible deeds have contributed much to the chaos we have to face in our daily life.
It is just natural that people will immediately blame others when they feel inconvenienced. Such a situation occurred last Friday evening (Nov. 13) when millions of people were trapped in traffic chaos in many parts of Jakarta's roads. Their cars couldn't move for hours because many roads turned into lakes, following the heavy rains across the capital. Through radios, many voiced their outrage - blaming Governor Fauzi and his staffers for the damaged roads and poor condition of drainage systems, which they believed were responsible for the flooding.
But while they felt anger towards the city authorities, they forgot that they may have significantly contributed to the problem. We often forget that many of us still innocently throw garbage anywhere - roads, rivers or small canals near our houses - that can clog the drainage system and may halt rainwater from flowing smoothly to the rivers.
It is true that we, as taxpayers, have the right to push the Jakarta city government to do their job - repairing the poor condition of major drainage systems across the city and cleaning them up prior to the rainy season. We also need to push relevant officials to redevelop many poorly constructed small canals that fail to mitigate rainwater into the river. But we rarely ask ourselves whether we have done something to solve the problems or even if we may be part of the problem.
When we look at the sludge in the city, we may know that there are still many irresponsible people among us. Among the mounds of garbage in the sludge, there are mainly domestic solid wastes like old mattresses, beds, chairs, tables and many other old household types of equipment. The city government says that workers have to lift hundreds of tons of garbage from rivers everyday.
We can also see that many owners of shops and other properties along the roads in the city occupy sidewalks or small canals to expand their business spaces that make it difficult for workers to repair or to lift garbage from the canals. Meanwhile, there are still many highly educated people who litter the roads from their luxury cars. Even those who used to cease such bad habits while they lived abroad could not maintain it once they returned home.
The rainy season will last for the months ahead. And we have to be ready for the worst. But do not just blame the government for every bad thing we have to face. Just look at ourselves and ask whether we have acted responsibly as the residents of this city.
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