T

he Jakarta Police said on Friday they would review traffic impact analyses on shopping malls that had long become sources of congestion in the Greater Jakarta area.

Jakarta Police Traffic Division head Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa said that the majority of shopping malls in Jakarta had greatly contributed to worsening traffic congestion and an evalution of traffic policies were in order.

“Now there are more and more vehicles on the road. So, we need to re-evaluate the environmental impact analysis of the existing malls,” Royke told reporters on Friday.

Royke mentioned that malls such as Plaza Semanggi in downtown Jakarta and Cibubur Junction in East Jakarta were two such malls whose traffic policies were in dire need of review. Police said they would jointly conduct the review with the city transportation agency.

“In the new analysis, we will reconsider access roads that will ensure better traffic flow as well as parking capacity and other factors that will keep the mall from becoming sources of problems for the public,” Royke said.

Royke also stressed that traffic engineering, which could include installation of separators, must also be implemeted to address problems associated with gridlock.

Royke said that all mall operators must comply with the Law on Traffic, which requires all commercial buildings to have an environment impact analyisis, including on traffic.

Earlier this week, Jakarta Traffic Police security and safety head Adj. Comr. Yakub Dedy Karyawan said that most shopping malls in the city were built without proper traffic impact analyses.

He said that most malls were constructed in congested areas and of the 70 malls in Jakarta, only 10 percent did not impact traffic.

Data from the Jakarta Police Traffic Division indicates that malls that cause traffic congestion include
Plaza Semanggi, Cibubur Junction, Citos, Taman Anggrek, Tamini Square, Ciputra Mall, ITC Mangga Dua, Ambasador Mall, Grand Indonesia, Central Park, fX Plaza, Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua, Kelapa Gading, Mall Sunter, Kelapa Gading Trade Center, Pluit Village, WTC Mangga Dua, Mall Artha Gading, Sports Mall Kelapa Gading, the Mall of Indonesia, Pejaten Village and Gandaria City.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said earlier this month that the city would stop issuing permits for new shopping malls and commercial centers with footprints larger than 5,000 square meters for the next year.

According to the Indonesian Shopping Center Association (APPBI), there are currently a total 68 malls and trade centers across the city.

The organization said the city as still capable of facilitating several more malls. The Jakarta administration has argued that the opening of new shopping malls could provide significant contributions to the city’s economy.

The administration announced that Jakarta’s average per capita GDP was around US$10,000 (Rp 85.47 million) and that the city was expecting to see an economic growth rate of 7 percent following last year’s 6.51 percent growth.

The private sector contributes 75 percent to the city’s economic growth, while the remainder is contributed by the public sector.

Separately, University of Indonesia public policy analyst Andrinov Chaniago said that the damage from the rapid growth of malls had been done and the only measures that the Jakarta administration could take were to improve the city’s road infrastructure and impose a total ban on the construction of new malls for an indefinite period.

“The city government must issue a complete ban on mall construction,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Andrinov blamed the unchecked construction of malls on massive rent-seeking activities both from city administration officials and construction developers.