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Djarot refuses to pay ‘Pak Ogah’ traffic attendants
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Traffic police and transportation agency personnel stop a motorcyclist for using the dedicated Transjakarta bus lane on Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta, recently. (Warta Kota/Nur Ichsan)
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fter initiating training for Pak Ogah, the voluntary traffic attendants who regularly manage traffic congestion, especially on small streets where police personnel are usually absent, the Jakarta Police have been forced to halt a plan to inaugurate them as official traffic attendants, as the Jakarta administration says it will not hire them.
Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat rejected the initiative of the city police to hire the trained traffic attendants, who are called Supeltas, saying that they are not supposed to be paid since “they volunteer”.
“Maybe we can help [manage the traffic] by providing public facility maintenance agency workers, when they’re available. But to pay the volunteers? No way,” he said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.
Managing traffic is the responsibility of the police. However, since many streets are congested , police officers, with the help of transportation agency officials, only manage main streets.
The police’s traffic division chief, Sr. Comr. Halim Pagarra, said he had planned to inaugurate the Supeltas on Saturday, but the plan was canceled owing to the negative response from the administration.
The attendants got the name Pak Ogah in reference to a character in a popular puppet show in the 1990s, Si Unyil. Pak Ogah is an unemployed person who asks for small change from people he meets, “Cepek dulu, dong” (One hundred rupiah, please). (wit)
