The government would do better by focusing on developing Jakarta as a proper capital city, rather than by planning to relocate the capital to another city in the archipelago, Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Monday.

“For me, it’s better to develop Jakarta to be a proper capital city,” Djarot said, adding that to solve an acute traffic problem in the city the administration had made concerted efforts to revamp its public transportation services.

“We still face traffic jams, but see how it would be when these projects are completed,” he said, adding that the ongoing transportation projects were nearly 60 percent complete.

To limit the number of private cars in the city, Djarot said that the administration was on the verge of implementing electronic road pricing (ERP), which was widely expected to encourage Jakartans to shift to using public transportation. 

“We are currently working to integrate public transportation services, which comprises commuter trains, Transjakarta buses, light rail transit and mass rapid transit, as ordered by President [Joko “Jokowi” Widodo]. The integration will also involve Jakarta’s outskirts. So if we consistently work on it, why would we need to relocate the capital?” Djarot said, adding that the Jakarta governor should be given more authority to integrate transportation in the capital and its satellite cities. (dra)