akarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno admitted that allowing the operation of becak (pedicabs), after years of prohibition in the city, was one of the political contracts he and Governor Anies Baswedan made during the gubernatorial election campaign last year.
“The political contract was handed down to Pak Anies […] We have some political contracts and we will fulfill them all,” Sandiaga told journalists at City Hall on Wednesday without elaborating more on other political contracts they made during the campaign.
Anies recently stated that he would issue a political decree to regulate the revival of becak in several residential areas in Jakarta, especially in North Jakarta where many they are still operating.
Anies said issuing the decree did not mean that he would allow becak to return to the city’s main streets. “Only in some residential areas where there is still a demand for its services,” he added on Wednesday.
Becak drivers have welcomed Anies’ decision, saying that they are fed up playing cat-and-mouse with officers from the Jakarta Public Order Agency.
Becak, which first appeared in Jakarta in the early 20th century, have been banned in the city since the late 1990s. In 2007, the administration reinforced the ban under a bylaw on public order.
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