T

he Jakarta administration will this year allocate up to Rp 200 billion (US$15.6 million) to fix damaged roads, which have been known to lead to accidents.

Bina Marga Agency head Yusmada Faizal said his agency had received numerous complaints of damaged roads, mostly from motorists in West and East Jakarta.

'€œAs of this week, we have fixed roughly 450 of the total 807 areas of damaged roads throughout the city. Most damaged roads are located in West and East Jakarta,'€ Yusmada said over the phone on Tuesday.

Flooding and heavy vehicles have created potholes, which often lead not only to traffic congestion but also to minor and major road accidents. Last December, for example, a man died in Cilincing in North Jakarta after he lost control of his motorcycle on a damaged road and was hit by a truck.

Early last year, then Public Works Agency head Manggas Rudy Siahaan promised to create a zero-pothole Jakarta, freeing the city of all road damage. His plan, however, was never realized and Manggas was demoted late last year.

Yusmada went on to say that the agency would allocate Rp 40 billion for each municipality to fix the damaged roads. This year'€™s allocation of Rp 200 billion to repair roads in the five municipalities is significantly lower than last year'€™s Rp 546 billion.

'€œOur priority is to fix neighborhood roads, main roads and Transjakarta lanes,'€ Yusmada said, adding that the agency had allocated Rp 50 billion to fix damaged Transjakarta lanes, a big jump from last year'€™s
Rp 10 billion.

He said the agency would first prioritize the repair of Transjakarta Corridor I, which plies the route between Blok M in South Jakarta and Kota Tua in West Jakarta. The repairs, he added, would focus on Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta.

PT Transportasi Jakarta (Transjakarta) president director ANS Kosasih said Transjakarta buses were affected by the damaged roads, so he would closely coordinate with the Bina Marga Agency to expedite the repairs.

'€œThis June, we will have 21 new articulated Scania buses plying Corridor I. We must make sure that the Transjakarta busway lanes are smooth,'€ Kosasih told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday.

He went on that by the end of the year, the city would have a total of 52 new articulated Scania buses ready for operation.

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said that the 31-ton articulated buses were fairly heavy, so the city would use strong, high-quality concrete to fix the damaged Trans-jakarta roads.

'€œDamaged roads make Transjakarta rides very uncomfortable for passengers and it also damages the buses as well. We want all Transjakarta lanes to be smooth,'€ Ahok said.

He said he would no longer tolerate low-quality concrete, and demanded that all the Transjakarta busway lanes use only the best concrete.