T

he Jakarta Police have rejected the City Administration’s plan to limit private car numbers on the road through a car color-based policy, which will be tested during the Nov. 11-22 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Jakarta Police chief Untung S. Radjab has called for another review of the car color-based policy, saying he was concerned the policy could be unfair on car owners.

“The police chief wants another review by the city traffic authority. Thorough consideration, both sociological and legal, is needed to see if the policy should be approved,” City Police deputy chief Suhardi Alius said.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said on Wednesday that the car-color policy could spark protests among car owners.

“The [color-based] policy should be a joint decision. It should not be decided by the city government alone. If it’s their decision, they should implement and oversee it themselves. They should know that it is us who will handle the effects,” Baharuddin said.

Earlier this week, the City Transportation Agency said that a trial run of the color-based policy would be held from Nov. 11 to Nov. 22, during the SEA Games.

Under the planned policy, vehicles would be divided into two categories: Dark and light in color.

Dark colors include black, grey, dark blue and brown, and light colors include red, light blue, green, white and pink.

Jakarta Police traffic directorate chief Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa had earlier said the police and the city transportation agency had also agreed that multicolored vehicles would be categorized based on their dominant color.

The policy will not apply to public vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and press cars.

The policy would be applied on main thoroughfares, including Jl. Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Gatot Subroto, and other roads connecting SEA Games venues and participants’ hotels.

On late Tuesday night, Suhardi said the color-based policy was only one of a number of proposed traffic reduction strategies currently being reviewed by the police.

Other options included limiting cars based on license plate numbers, or special stickers.

Jakarta is also waiting for the central government to issue more regulations that would allow it to implement the much-anticipated electronic road pricing (ERP) system, which would replace the current three-in-one car pooling system.

Under the three-in-one system, which began in 1994, private cars must have at least three people in them to enter main thoroughfares between Blok M in South Jakarta and Kota in West Jakarta during morning and afternoon rush hour on weekdays.