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City officials say they love riding bikes for work
Pulo subdistrict Deputy Head Muhammad Zen (above) rides a bicycle on Jl
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Pulo subdistrict Deputy Head Muhammad Zen (above) rides a bicycle on Jl. Prapanca Raya, South Jakarta on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, South Jakarta Mayor Syahrul Effendi enacted an environmentally and traffic friendly policy of requiring administrative officials across the municipality to use bicycles for transportation. Several subdistrict officials that have implemented the policy have said they like it.
"Using a bicycle makes it easy to avoid pot holes and puddles when patrolling the neighborhood," Pulo subdistrict head Iwan K.S. told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Iwan said he used to use a car or a motorcycle to patrol his area.
"Cars are totally ineffective during rush hours, while with a motorcycle I tended to ride a bit too fast to observe the situation. The bicycle allows me to move swiftly and at the right pace to patrol; plus I can get to the mayors office faster by using a bicycle because I can ride it on the sidewalk," he said.
Iwan said that only three of the subdistrict's nine staffers used bicycles - himself, his deputy and the secretary.
"It is only the three of us who constantly need to patrol and go to meetings with other officials from other subdistricts," he said.
In the nearby Melawai subdistrict, six of the nine staffers already rode bicycles for operational purposes, Samsi, the Melawai subdistrict head, said.
"Not only does it help us save money on fuel, the policy also makes us healthier in the long run," he said.
Both Iwan and Samsi said the bicycles were not provided by the municipality but were their own.
"I hope that in the future the municipality will provide us with standard bicycles," Samsi said. (hdt) ***
