I was among Jakartans who were anxious to see what Fauzi could do when he eventually was given the mandate by city residents to become their governor. This old city has a lot of serious problems, one good example of which is its chaotic traffic and poorly disciplined road users. When it rains, for example, roads under flyovers are always jammed with motorcyclists seeking shelter.

Worse are the attitudes of public minivan drivers who like to stop and drop off passengers while driving in the right-hand lane. Motorcyclists, meanwhile, chop and change lanes whenever they please, and private cars are often seen using exclusive busway lanes.

Jakarta lacks a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network such as the systems found in other major Asian cities including Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Nor does it have a “sky trai” (monorail) network like the systems found in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Sydney. The Indonesian capital has a busway, which is loved by its people, but unfortunately this unique service has yet to perform to optimal levels.

In fact, Jakarta has long had the option to develop an MRT network to help ease the traffic. It has also been advised to build more flyovers and apply an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system similar to that applied in the US and Singapore.

Besides its chaotic traffic, Jakarta has another serious problem — floods — a common phenomenon since the early Dutch colonial times in the 1500s. The Dutch designed and built the Western Flood Canal, but only recently has the planned Eastern Flood Canal been realized (although it is not yet 100 percent complete).

Jakarta also has quite a large number of poor residents — more than 8 percent of the city’s population of 10 million. The problem is not only the significant number of poor people, but the wide economic gap between rich and poor. Jakarta is also home to Indonesia’s richest. Threats of “social jealousy” are not non-existent.

Meanwhile, Jakarta does not have a strong identity, despite being a densely populated city. It is not considered a fashion or an arts hub. It is also far from being categorized as a world-class business city like Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Mumbai, Hong Kong or Singapore. Nor is it a tourism city like Madrid, Vienna, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Beirut, Dubai, Hong Kong or Singapore.

Jakartans have vested their hopes in Fauzi to resolve the capital city’s many problems, but after three years their hopes remain and continue to be merely hopes. They have yet to see Fauzi make significant breakthroughs toward making the city a better place — for example by reducing pollution and increasing open green spaces. Currently, green space only accounts for 10 percent of the city’s total area, while ideally such areas should cover at least 25 percent of the city.

One significant achievement Fauzi has made has been the completion of several large projects initiated by his predecessors, such as the Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR) and East Flood Canal. He also launched the free medical treatment for the poor scheme. For these, Fauzi deserves credit.

However, the public expects more from Fauzi than the completion of these old projects. They want to see Jakarta becoming a better place, as he promised in his election campaign. They also want to see Fauzi get Jakartans out of poverty, to a better life.

By becoming one of the world’s main tourist destinations and/or becoming an arts city, a musical city, a fashion city or one of the world’s most progressive shopping destinations (with its wide variety of malls, from high-class to low-class), Jakarta could absorb more manpower and enliven trading activities and services, with local producers becoming more creative in producing world-class products and goods. As an end result, city residents’ incomes would increase significantly in line with the increasing business activities and services in the capital.

All these dreams are attainable as solutions depending on how creative we can be, how strong our development team is, and how much we are willing to involve the public in the city’s development programs. If Fauzi can achieve all of the above tasks, “A better Jakarta” will become a reality.

In efforts to reduce pollution significantly and promote a healthier environment in the city, the Governor should make the following breakthroughs:

First, Fauzi should start by seriously campaigning for smoke-free public places in the capital. He has applied some measures to this end, but these have not been imposed seriously yet.

Second, the governor should revise the criteria used to determine “releasable smoke” from motorized vehicles. Exhaust fumes from vehicles needs to be kept cleaner, and vehicles must use more environmentally friendly fuels.

As well as this, Fauzi should champion the planting of trees in the capital. Planting trees should not just be rhetoric, but a habit. If he did so, Fauzi would be hailed by the people of the world, not just Indonesians or Jakartans.

Third, if he wants to be considered a great governor, Fauzi must champion the promotion of energy conservation. Can you imagine how great he would be if he was willing to spend a big sum on the development of environmentally friendly energy, where some of the electricity produced would be given to the city’s poorer residents. A big “9” for the governor.

The writer is a Jakarta-based lawyer and a municipal development observer.

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