R

esidents have criticized the city administration for ignoring suburban development, accusing it of having prioritized specific projects in a bid to beautify the capital ahead of the 2018 Asian Games.

Lutfi Hadi Kusuma, a resident of Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta, questioned the urgency of the administration’s current plan to rearrange, as well as beautify, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta.

“In my opinion, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin are already well-developed, especially when compared to other main roads in Jakarta,” Lutfi told The Jakarta Post recently.

Lutfi suggested the administration should have instead focused on less-developed main roads, like Jl. Pemuda in East Jakarta and Jl. TB Simatupang in South Jakarta.

Like Lutfi, Yohana Beryl Hapsari of Pondok Gede of East Jakarta, also criticized the administration for having focused mostly on roads near the high-security area, popularly called Ring 1, in which the Presidential and Vice Presidential offices, as well as several government offices and the US Embassy, are located.

“The capital does not only consist of the Ring 1 area. The administration should take a look at other roads. Few very important people travel along them, but they are essential for Jakarta residents,” Beryl said. “This city is not just for VIPs, right?”

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama previously said that his administration would launch a number of projects to ease the capital’s notorious traffic and promised these efforts would provide the city with a better image for the Asian Games.

The projects, Ahok said, included the rearrangement of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin and the construction of additional roads in Semanggi interchange in South Jakarta.

With the development funded at Rp 345 billion (US$26.14 million) by private firm PT Mitra Panca Persada as compensation for its proposal to increase its building floor coefficients (KLB), the construction of the additional roads began last month.

KLB refers to the total square feet of a building divided by the total square feet of the lot on which the building is located. The higher the KLB, the denser an area is.

A gubernatorial regulation stipulates compensation in the form of a social or public facility to the city administration if developers exceed the KLB limit.

Regarding the revitalization of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin, Ahok said that funding would likely be provided by a private firm through the KLB compensation scheme, as the project was not included in the 2016 budget plan.

He said that revitalization would begin this year and should be finished by August 2017. The Semanggi project is also due for completion at this time.

“There will be a test event for Asian Games venues in 2017. So, when they [international athletes and committees] come, we will not be embarrassed by the road conditions,” Ahok said in a weekly meeting with his subordinates as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Monday.