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.
Asian Games ticket booths block sidewalks, bicycle lanes
Temporary booths set up in Central Jakarta to sell tickets for the Asian Games have been relocated to free up a bicycle lane following public criticism, only to now block the sidewalk instead.
Change Size
An Asian Games ticket booth blocks the bicycle lane along Jl. Pintu Satu Senayan in Central Jakarta on Aug. 4. (kompas.com/Nursita Sari)
T
emporary booths set up in Senayan, Central Jakarta, to sell tickets for the Asian Games have been relocated to free up a bicycle lane following public criticism, only to now block the sidewalk instead.
The booths, repurposed shipping containers, are so wide that they block either the bicycle lane if placed adjacent to the road or the tactile paving for the disabled if placed furthest away from the road.
“Those boxes should just be removed, because sidewalks are for pedestrians,” said Pedestrian Coalition head Alfred Sitorus on Saturday, as reported by tempo.co.
The Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) installed seven such booths on Friday along Jl. Pintu Satu Senayan, which marks the border of the Games sports compound.
INASGOC spokesperson Danny Buldansyah defended the decision, arguing that the Senayan sidewalk was the most practical location for ticket selling.
“Where else do we put them? We can’t put them inside, behind the entrance, can we?” he said.
Photos of the blocked bicycle lane have been widely shared on social media, as netizens derided the grey containers as an obstacle course in the spirit of the Asian Games, prompting authorities to relocate the booths – for better or for worse. (nor)
