File gripes on road damage, say police

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Police urged residents to file formal complaints against the city administration if it failed to promptly fix damaged roads that might endanger public safety.

“If there are any accidents due to road damage, then residents have the right to complain, in this case to the Public Works Agency,” Jakarta Police Traffic Division head Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Royke said that the right to file a complaint against the administration for failing to ensure road safety was provided by the 2009 Law on Traffic.

The law says in part: “Road facility providers are obligated to fix accident-prone damaged roads in the quickest manner possible.”

Signs and warnings must be posted if damaged roads cannot be repaired quickly, according to the law, which also stipulates that road providers may be subject to criminal charges if they do not repair damaged roads that cause accidents.

The law stipulates that road providers may be sentenced to five months’ imprisonment and a Rp 12 million (US$1,332) fine if people suffer from minor injuries due to a damaged road, one year’s imprisonment and a Rp 24 million fine for major injuries and five years’ imprisonment and a Rp 120 million fine in case of death. — JP