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Anies welcomes motorcycle ban revocation
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A motorcycle ban traffic sign is seen on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Nov. 7, 2017. (JP/Rifky Dewandaru)
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has welcomed a Supreme Court ruling lifting a ban on motorcycles on the city's main roads.
He said he would proceed with a plan to amend a gubernatorial decree that prohibited bikers from entering Jl. MH Thamrin from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The decree, issued by former governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, aims to make the roads, which are home to embassies and government buildings, look tidier and safer, as well as reduce traffic jams in the area.
The court has yet to submit a copy of the ruling to the city administration.
“It means that we are doing something based on the principles of justice," Anies said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.
Anies had frequently voiced his objections to the restriction, saying that it disadvantaged small and medium businesses offering goods along the road.
"We have always said that we want equal opportunities. Jakarta doesn't belong to a certain group, but to all. Thus, the ruling strengthens our idea," Anies added.
The court issued the ruling on Dec. 20 after app-based ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers Yuliansah Hamid and Diki Iskandar, who are members of the Online Drivers Communication Forum (FKPO), filed an appeal in September 2017 to review a 2014 gubernatorial decree on motorcycle restrictions.
The court said the regulation contravened the 1999 Human Rights Law because roads should be accessible to all. (fac)
