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Moving capital will not ease Jakarta’s traffic congestion: Anies
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Vehicles are seen stuck in traffic along Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
(The Jakarta Post/PJ Leo )
T
raffic congestion will continue to plague the streets of Jakarta even if it is no longer the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said in response to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's plan to move the capital.
Anies said moving the capital city would not automatically decrease traffic congestion in Jakarta.
“Traffic jams will still occur in Jakarta because the contributors to congestion are household and private sector activities, not government activities,” he said on Monday.
He added that there were 17 million registered private vehicles in Jakarta, but only 141,000 government vehicles.
“Even if the central government administration is moved, traffic challenges will remain,” the former education and culture minister in Jokowi’s cabinet said, adding that civil servants accounted for around 9 percent of Jakarta’s population of 10 million people.
Jokowi’s administration announced on Monday that the President would proceed with the plan to move the capital by establishing a new center of government outside Java.
The plan aimed to ensure more equitable development and address overpopulation on the country’s most populous island, National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Bambang Brodjonegoro said after a limited cabinet meeting with the President on Monday. (das)
