SBY calls on urban pundits to help solve Jakarta woes

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on urban experts to find solutions to reduce problems in Jakarta, especially chronic traffic jams.

“Jakarta's contribution to the country's economy is huge. I invite all urban experts to sit together to draw up strategies to ease traffic congestion in the capital,” Yudhoyono said during his public lecture at the 10 November Institute of Technology in Surabaya, East Java.


Yudhoyono said that worsening traffic congestion in the metropolis was irritating Jakartans as the snarls affected most roads in the city.

"To solve the traffic woes, we need to provide an areas of one and a half times the current city space [to accommodate the population]. But, this [solution] is not viable,” Yudhoyono said.

He told the urban experts to reinstate the idea of moving the capital elsewhere in order to alleviate the current burden on the city.