During his speech in a special plenary meeting on Tuesday to mark the city’s 483rd anniversary, Fauzi spoke about his administration’s achievements in increasing residents’ quality of life, as well as his efforts to clean up the “unseen mess” left by his predecessors.

He said he had accomplished achievements in health and education, including expanding free healthcare to almost all low-income families in the city, and the nine-years compulsory education program to 99 percent of students in elementary school.

The governor said the city was also working on increasing the air quality by conducting vehicle emission tests, supporting the use of gas in public transportation vehicles and increasing the frequency of car free days to twice a month in all municipalities.

“We have tried to restore green spaces, including [those converted into] gas stations,” he said.

Currently, green areas in Jakarta account for less than 10 percent of the city’s total area, far below the target of 30 percent set in the 2007 Spatial Planning Law.

Fauzi acknowledged that the perennial problem of traffic congestion had become “not only a technical and economical problem, but also a social problem”.

He said the city administration would integrate the busway, a new subway, rail and supporting public transportation services to create a grand public transportation system.

He promised to complete Corridor 9 of the TransJakarta busway plying Pinang Ranti in East Jakarta to Pluit in North Jakarta, and Corridor 10 connecting Cililitan in East Jakarta with Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta this year and continue the development of five other corridors.

Fauzi said he was cleaning up “unseen mess” left behind by his predecessors, including in the development of the Transjakarta bus service.

He said he was waiting for the settlement of a dispute on whether to employ a per-kilometer fare for the busway, which he said had caused the delays to corridors 9 and 10.

He also said he would propose to the central government that it set a special gas tariff for public transportation vehicles to settle confusion arising from two different tariffs currently set by PT Pertamina and Perusahaan Gas Negara.

Early on in his administration, Fauzi cut a number of agencies and units in the administration to increase efficiency.

Fauzi also pledged to continue the construction of the long-abandoned monorail project once a negotiation on compensation for PT Jakarta Monorail had been completed.

He said, “the subway development has entered the final engineering design stage and we have started the land acquisition process”.

Despite criticism, Fauzi said he would continue building fly overs and underpasses at busy intersections, which he said would support other transportation projects.

Fauzi also said the city would continue to dredge the main canals and the city’s sewerage system to reduce flooding.

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