TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jakarta begins ridding sidewalks of vendors, motorists
Change Size
Pedestrians walk on a sidewalk that has been turned into a food stall strip on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Jakarta administration introduced on Tuesday Bulan Patuh Trotoar (Orderly Sidewalk Month) to discipline vendors and motorists who encroach on sidewalks, to ensure comfort for pedestrians.
The program is in response to complaints by pedestrians that it was uncomfortable and unsafe to walk on the city’s 400 kilometers of sidewalks as much of them were occupied by vendors and motorists, said the assistant to the Jakarta secretary for administrative affairs, Bambang Sugiono.
“The Orderly Sidewalk Month program is the beginning of orderly sidewalks in Jakarta. It doesn’t mean that sidewalks can be occupied again by vendors or motorists [after the program ends],” Bambang said.
Some 500 joint team members from the Indonesian Military, the National Police, the Transportation Agency and the Public Order Agency will ensure the success of the program, which runs until Aug. 31.
Bambang also said the program, which was being carried out using Gubernatorial Instruction No. 99/2017 as a legal basis, was being held to mark Independence Day in August.
Public Order Agency head Yani Wahyu Purwoko said personnel from the military, the police and the administration would be stationed in the five municipalities across the capital to conduct raids in one area per municipality per day.
“After curbing violators in a particular spot, as well as cleaning and organizing the sidewalk at the scene, our personnel will hand it over to the subdistrict or district head of the area to be maintained,” Yani said.
