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Toll road plans spark further protests
Experts and activists from various urban organizations and communities sent postcards to Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki âAhokâ Tjahaja Purnama to convey their opposition to the planned construction of six inner-city toll roads
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E
xperts and activists from various urban organizations and communities sent postcards to Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama to convey their opposition to the planned construction of six inner-city toll roads.
Agus Pambagyo, a public policy expert, said in a press conference on Friday that the postcards were the latest way to remind the deputy governor of his promise during his deputy-gubernatorial campaign that he would not approve the long-stalled toll road project.
'We have tried many ways, including grumbling in social media and even meeting directly with the deputy governor but the efforts have been fruitless,' he said, adding that the postcards might change
Ahok's mind.
Agus said building new roads in the capital city would not solve the congestion problem that has dogged the city for decades. 'The city needs to focus on revamping public transportation to make it cheap, safe, comfortable and integrated,' he said.
Activists and experts have been expressing their objections to the plans since 2012. At that time, Ahok and Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo suspended the projects.
However, without public consultation, the city administration, the Toll Road Regulatory Agency (BPJT) and consortium PT Jakarta Tollroad Development (JTD), signed a joint agreement in July to execute the project. The agreement was witnessed by Ahok, who said he wanted the roads' construction to begin simultaneously.
PT JTD is a consortium formed from city-owned enterprises PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro), PT Pembangunan Jaya, PT Hutama Karta, PT Adhi Karya and a private company PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada.
- Experts, activists send postcards as last resort to protest planned construction of six inner-city toll roads
- They urge city to speed up provision of cheap, safe and comfortable public transportation
- Ahok plays down opposition, pledges to go on with project
Agus said he suspected that the project, costing around Rp 42 trillion (US$3.55 billion) in total, would be funded from the city budget. 'City-owned enterprises are taking part in the megaproject. The city administration could inject funds to the city-owned enterprises as its investment participation [PMP] to enable them to carry out the project,' he said.
In a revision of Bylaw No 12/2004 on PMP in Jakpro, the company received an additional Rp 8 trillion in initial capital for its participation in the project.
Institute of Transportation Studies (Instran) director Darmaningtyas said building toll roads would only lead to an increased number of private vehicles, which have contributed to the congestion problem.
According to the City Police's 2013 data, the number of vehicles in Jakarta amounted to 16 million, including 11 million motorcycles.
At least 18 million trips occur in the city every day while toll roads accommodate only 30 percent of more than 5 million vehicles.
'The toll road construction will affect thousands of residents who will be evicted,' he said.
Darmaningtyas said the toll roads would also disrupt the operation of public transportation like commuter trains and Transjakarta buses because of their overlapping lanes in certain areas.
He cited as an example the toll road connecting Ulujami in South Jakarta to Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, which overlaps with Transjakarta corridor VIII, serving Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, to Harmoni in West Jakarta.
Groups including Public Protest, Instrans, the Public Virtue Institute, the Rujak Center for Urban Studies, Save Jakarta, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and the Committee for Leaded Gasoline Eradication all expressed their strong opposition to the toll road project.
Separately, Ahok, who will be sworn in as new governor to replace president-elect Jokowi, said he was not too concerned about the experts' objection the toll road projects.
'Whatever. We've already made our calculations [...] Besides, they can't reject [the toll road development], because we are not funding it from the city's budget,' Ahok said.
He added that he would not take the objections into consideration and would go on with the project.
Ahok said the toll roads would have busways for Transjakarta, which would ease transportation for commuters.
'Moreover, by the time the toll roads are finished, the MRT [mass rapid transit] will also have been completed. We will facilitate commuting so residents will shift from private cars to public transportation,' he said.
