Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

I recently read a headline online which simply said 'Yes, Live In Jakarta', and I wondered which of the pairs in the gubernatorial election to be held this coming July was putting a positive spin on life here. All I've heard from them up to now is which of the many problems facing the megapolis they intend to prioritise.

Of course, and once again, I was wrong. The article actually referred to a gig on the world tour of the near-geriatric prog-rock group Yes; tickets cost more than a circuit judge's monthly salary.

There are so many stimuli assaulting one's senses in Jakarta that trying to understand it all without the insights of others is nigh on impossible. Whether stuck in a traffic jam or a meeting to discuss when the next meeting should take place, or you just want to switch off for a while, a good solution is to always have a good book in your backpack or briefcase.

The following are partial lists of what is on my bookshelves about Jakarta, past and present. They are arranged in chronological order according to the periods they are set in.

JAKARTA THEN

Historical Sights of Jakarta
- Adolf Heuken. pub. Times Books International,1989.
Numerous maps and illustrations, and details of little-known, and often neglected, historical places of interest.

A Certain Age
- Rudolph Mrázek. pub. Duke University Press 2010
Colonial Jakarta through the memories of its intellectuals. An academic work which is very readable.

In The Time Of Madness
- Richard Lloyd Parry. pub. Jonathon Cape 2005
A journalist witnesses the revolution in 1998 which saw the abdication of President Suharto.

Eyes of God
- Philip Babcock. pub. Edgeworth Press 2011
A multi-levelled Conradian thriller is set in the turbulent times of 97/98. Babcock was blacklisted and deported presumably because he was a pawn in the struggles for slices of Pertamina following the injection of IMF funds. The introductory passages are set in Jakarta gangs, a five star-hotel and the American Embassy.

JAKARTA NOW

Jakarta Inside out
- Daniel Ziv. pub. Desa Kota 4th edition 2009
A street level look and "a love letter to a city [he's] been proud to call home for over a decade."
Through short incisive commentaries which accompany candid photos,.Ziv provides insights into the chaotic reality of everyday life in the city.

My Jakarta
- pub. Jakarta Globe 2010
A compilation of Jakarta Globe interviews with Jakarta residents talking about – erm – "My Jakarta".

Nineteen
- Irfan Kortschak. pub. Mercy Corps 2008
Selected portraits of Jakarta’s itinerant street vendors – tales of strength in adversity rather than despair and defeat.

Jakarta, Jayakarta, Batavia
- ed. Leonard Lueras. pub. Yayasan Bali Purnati 2008.
A coffee table tome with essays and fine photos – an excellent souvenir of your stay.

Culture Shock! Jakarta
- Terry Collins and Derek Bacon. pub. Marshall Cavendish 2nd edition 2011
fr. Amazon review: As an Indonesian born and living around Jakarta, reading this book still managed to give me insights about the little and not-so-little things that escaped my attention.
(No apologies for an unashamed plug.)

NOVELS

The Year Of Living Dangerously
- C.J.Koch. pub. Grafton 1978
About journalists waiting for the revolution in 1965 which saw the downfall of President Sukarno. Banned during the Suharto era as was the movie, starring Mel Gibson, which has recently been shown on local TV.

Monkeys In The Dark
- Blanche d'Alpuget. pub. Aurora 1980
Life in Jakarta among expats in the inter-regnum between the '65 coup and Sukarno's exile.

+ not Jakarta specific, but Batavia features strongly.

Batavia’s Graveyard
- Mike Dash. pub. Three Rivers Press N.Y. 2002
“The true story of the mad heretic who led history’s bloodiest mutiny – in 1629”

Nathaniel's Nutmeg
- Giles Milton pub. Sceptre 1999
“A galloping good jaunt through the early days of western interaction with the Spice Islands.”

Ups and Downs of Life In The Indies
- P.A.Daum. pub. Periplus 1999
Dutch colonial life in the nineteenth century.

By Indonesian writers

Twilight In Jakarta
- Mochtar Lubis (1963)
The first Indonesian novel to be translated into English in 1964. His tale of life in the kampungs, with its politics, poverty, corruption and crime, when he was a thorn in the side of Sukarno, still seems relevant today.

Saman
- Ayu Utami. (1998) Translation pub. Equinox. 2005
Utami covers many of Indonesia's social ills, such as exploitation of plantation workers, political oppression, religious and sexual identity, in the last years of Suharto's regime. This is an outstanding and courageous novel, with echoes for today.

Also worth reading is anything by Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

PUBLISHERS
Those wishing to delve into academia will find a myriad theses and articles published by universities and smaller publishing houses. You can read about the history, geography, ecology, culture and more of the archipelago from pre-historic times to the current reformasi era.

Equinox
Publishes a wide range of non-fiction, mainly in the business and political arenas, They also republish long-out-of-print works, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as new works by, e.g. Michael Vatikiotis and translations e.g. Ayu Utami's Sanam (see below).

Periplus Editions
Browse their catalogue for high-quality illustrated books, dictionaries and maps on Indonesia and other southeast Asian countries.

Lontar Foundation
Since its founding in 1987 Lontar has concentrated its efforts on creating a 'market' for Indonesian literature abroad through the steady publication of Indonesian literary titles in English translation.

Yayasan Bali Purnati
Coffee table tomes with fine photographs illustrating essays from local contributors.

Blogs and other Websites.

Even a blind man can see that more folk carry 'smart' phones than carry books. If you are one of those, then there are several non-commercial websites, especially blogs, which offer different insights into Jakarta. We bloggers come and go and are rarely objective but these are my current favourites:
Rujak.org – for a sustainable Jakarta (in Indonesian).
Bataviase – loads of links and info (in Indonesian).
Jakarta Kid – insightful stories of Jakarta's street kids.
Jakarta 100 Bars – as it says on the tin.
Jakarta Daily Photo – ditto.
Gangs of Indonesia – fine photo-journalism.
Jakarta Restaurant Reviews  – as it says.
+
Inside Indonesia – monthly, with email subscriptions, readable, wide ranging in-depth articles.

The late David Jardine wrote many book reviews for Tempo magazine and other publications. Most of them have been archived here.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
First published in Jakarta Expat 69th edition (9th-22nd May 2012)

So wrote Son No.1 to me recently.  He is co-owner of a travel company based in London which specialises in organising individually packaged holidays in Southeast Asia. He is shortly to embark on another round of current and prospective resorts to add to his company's brochure.

Naturally, if he can fit us in we'd love to see him stop by Jakartass Towers but our misfortune (?) is that we live in an unloved city.

The Minister of Tourism Mari Pangestu recently stated: “Security is improving, but hygiene and infrastructure still constitute big handicaps for tourism in Indonesia.”

The UK Travel Advisory for Indonesia does not agree with her about security.

There is a high threat from terrorism. Terrorist groups continue to plan attacks and have the capacity and intent to carry out these attacks at any time and anywhere in the country. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers. Attacks may also target Indonesia Government and law enforcement interests. Terrorist attacks in Jakarta on 17 July 2009 and in Bali in October 2005 and October 2002 killed and injured a number of British nationals.

This is a reflection of the paranoia which afflicts too many self-important diplomats based here rather than the reality: note that the most recent 'successful' attack was over three years ago. It should also be noted that attacks on civilians are not aimed at British citizens per se.

On 14 May 2010, the Indonesian authorities announced that they had disrupted terrorist plans to carry out an attack on President Yudhoyono and unspecified international hotels in Jakarta.

Bush's 'War on Terror' is succeeding as far as Indonesia is concerned.

However, Ibu Mari is right about the handicaps of hygiene and infrastructure. She said that at a number of tourism facilities, including airports, railway stations, seaports, bus terminals, hotels and restaurants, hygiene had not been well-maintained, thereby affecting convenience for tourists and visitors.

What she meant is that there are few public toilet facilities and most of those are unhygienic

At present, Indonesia is in 125th position out of 139 countries surveyed in terms of hygiene.

Mari Pengestu is also the Minister of Creative Economy. You may wonder, as I did, what that entails. On the basis that chaos provides the conditions for creativity, one could expect something wonderful rather than something that beggars belief.

Mari said that promoting special-interest tourism in Indonesia might be lucrative, as tourists tended to spend their money on purchasing gifts and local cuisine when travelling in the country.

“We are still struggling to find the iconic dishes for Indonesia, but so far we have strongly promoted nasi goreng, rendang, sate ayam, luwak coffee, and Torajan coffee to the world.”

Wow. Nasi goreng? Fried rice? But no tempeh?

And as for "purchasing gifts", well, the nation’s capital is home to almost 170 malls which offer many places for high-end shopping, such as Pacific Place, Mall Kelapa Gading, Plaza Senayan, Senayan City, Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia. Oh, and she said that Bali had shopping centers, too.

Statistics
Number Of Foreign Guests in Jakarta's Classified Hotels – 882,900 (2010)
(Average 2003-2010: 708,8875)
Number Of Foreign Guests in Jakarta's Non Classified Hotels -11,932 (2010)
(Average 2003-2010: 12,157)

The above figures surely include those who arrive on business visas, as well as those of us on one year temporary stay permits.

The average length of stay in Classified hotels between 2003-2010 was 2.88 nights, and in Non-Classified hotels was 3.47 nights.

One can safely conclude that tourists don't view Jakarta as a destination worth visiting but as a place of transit into and out of the country.

Can't say I blame them.

So Son, don't forget to wave as you fly over Jakartass Towers.

Actually, that wasn't 100% true last year as it was a "luxury housing complex" in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta that bore the brunt of an overflowing River Krukut. The cause was not so much the heavy rain as that in March last year the marines reduced the width of the river from six metres to two in order to expand their shooting range.

Still, although more than 250 families have had to evacuate their homes, City Hall assured them that work to demolish the culvert would commence in late December and would be completed "before Jan. 30.” Except work wasn't started because the Public Works Agency said, "We are afraid that if we tear down the culvert, the houses will be damaged."

This seems to sum up the laissez-faire attitude of City Hall; their Public Works Dept. schedules 'flood prevention' work for the usual peak of the rainy season.

Storm drains are being left uncovered as apparently "they perform better." After a 55-year old woman died after falling in one in front of the Cempak Putih Carrefour, the head of the Public Works Dept stated, “We encourage people to step carefully.” This isn't the place to bemoan the lack of adequate sidewalks or street lighting but …

I'm writing this in advance of the expected "exceptional" floods caused by La Nina which may, or may not according to Sri Woro Harijono, the head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), occur in a five yearly cycle, exacerbated by climate change. The UN World Meteorological Organization has stated that it's already here. However, Ibu Sri has warned City Hall that in January, "there will be a high potential for flooding because nearly all areas in Jakarta are at high risk."

Indeed. Some 40% of the city lies below sea level and it is sinking at a rate of up to 3 centimetres a year thanks to the uncontrolled extraction of groundwater and the weight of new buildings. Add to this the rising sea level, at about 3mm a year, neap tides which the talkfest in Copenhagen next month won't do a thing to 'solve', as King Canute (985 – 1035) demonstrated.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo recently called on everyone to stop scaring people with predictions of massive floods this year, but I started a long tme ago and I'm not going to stop now!

Unless the lowlanders of Holland were to return and govern the city I can't see any other solution but to abandon it to Mother Nature.

Historic floods in Jakarta
1621 First recorded major flood, although construction of canals had started two years earlier.
1654 Flood ruined most mulberry groves causing shortage of Tonkinese silk.

1699 Ciliwung river floods old Batavia after Mount Salak erupts.
1714 Ciliwung river overflows after clearing forest areas in Puncak.
1854 New Batavia is a meter under water, caused by the raging Ciliwung.
1918 Extensive flooding. The Dutch colonial government begins work on the Western Flood Canal (West Banjir Canal).
1932 Flood caused by conversion of Puncak forest into tea and rubber plantations sweeps away houses in Sabang and Jl. Thamrin.

Governor Ali Sadikin (1966-77) kept the city virtually flood-free through a programme of cleaning, maintenance and construction of water channels with funds drawn from legal gambling.

1973 Sadikin's administration completes the Master Plan for Drainage and Flood Control of Jakarta, which includes the East Flood Canal.

Since the 1990's ……..
1996 A flood sweeps through the capital and approximately 10 people die.
2000 Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso spoke about the need to dredge the West Canal and to build the East Canal. "Although we have had the master plan of the canals since 1975, due to budget problems (corruption?) we could not build them."
2002 The Dartmouth Flood Observatory notes it as the largest flood in Jakarta’s history. 25 people died.
2007 The greatest flood in the last three centuries inundates about 40% of the city, killing 80 people and forcing about 340,000 to flee.

….. and poor alike!

The then Vice Governor Fauzi Bowo offered the excuse that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it because "Floods happen everywhere in the world."

2012 The East Banjir Canal is completed and ….?

The Post reported in the first week of this year that City Hall had finally woken up to "the extraordinary risk that disastrous flooding poses to the capital" and was "drafting a contingency plan."

“We are planning to provide evacuation maps and flooding-mitigation guides in each community unit across the city.”

"Drafting"? "Planning"? Are they referring to this year or to a 5, 10, or 30 Strategic Plan?
…………………………………………………………………………………………
This is a slightly edited version of an article published in the Jakarta Expat magazine 61st edition.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
References
Climate Change, Disaster Risk and the Urban Poor (Jakarta Case Study Overview) (pub. World Bank 2011)
"There is very little quantified, centralized information about the most vulnerable communities in Jakarta, the urban poor and informal settlements."

"Jakarta Coastal Sea Defense [is] coupled with land reclamation and improved pumping capacity. This is still in the design stages."

"Plans have been developed for some time to expand the capacity of the pipes to increase [potable] water supply to Jakarta, and therefore ease the causes of subsidence, but they are not yet underway."

Jakarta Flood Hazard Mapping Framework (.pdf) by Jan Jaap Brinkman and Marco Hartman
The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Globe, Bisnis Indonesia
Jakartass BBC Radio 5 Live Interview 2007

There is a growing understanding that it is ‘love’ that will be the prime force in the future economy of successful 21st century cities.
Larry Beasley, Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning at the University of British Columbia

Jakarta is Ibu Kota – the ‘mother city’ of Indonesia. Mother love is the source of all that’s good in humanity so the rakyat (citizenry) has the right to expect that the elected orang tua and bureaucrats, whose salaries come from the public purse, will provide a happy home.

Ali Sadikin, who was Governor from 1966 to 1977, had a commitment to the well-being of Jakartans and would regularly walk through the gangs (alleys) of slum areas to acquaint himself with conditions in order to ameliorate them. Taman Ismail Marzuki and Ancol Dreamland remain as his legacy.

That his protected Tomang City Forest should now be a sea of concrete which includes ‘Mal Taman Angrekk’ (Orchid Park Mall) and ‘Central Park’ says much about his self-seeking successors. The impression since then is that Jakartans have been served by a bunch of beggars competing among themselves.

It is unlikely that the governor to be elected in 2012 will do so without the machinery and machinations of a major political party, yet it is surely time for a new paradigm. This city needs not only a visionary, but someone who has the personal integrity and courage to change the mindsets of Jakartans and the bureaucrats in City Hall who believe that their sole responsibility is to be served by the public and those business enterprises which top up their troughs.

What is sorely needed is a system of people empowerment, a decision-making process which moves away from ‘top down’ working, to ways of working that consider the needs and wishes of communities regarding the distribution of public resources, thus creating opportunities for engaging, educating, and empowering citizens, and thereby fostering a more vibrant civil society.

Two successful models are Participatory Budgeting, first pioneered in 1989 by the mayor of Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Britain’s Sustainable Communities Act 2007

Could either work here? The mechanism already exists in the pyramid structure of RT upwards to, and downwards from, City Hall. However, given that both models help promote transparency, with the potential to reduce government inefficiencies and corruption, I would not expect any past or prospective ‘public servant’ to even consider them.
………………………………
pub. Jakarta Post 23.12.11
(I wrote at greater length on this topic here.)

The article I posted a couple of days ago was originally sent to the Jakarta Globe..However, as they haven’t used it, I didn’t want it to go to waste. However, things have been happening on the transport front since then.

First up, though, is this picture from BeritaJakarta.com which Thomas Belfield of the Jakarta Urban Blog sent me. He wrote, “I keep coming across Jakarta BusWay stories. Some stories tout it as the best thing in Jakarta and blah, blah, blah and then others report terrible accidents and deaths, I suppose because the rakyat are uneducated about the sophistication of taking a bus. Anyway, I am attaching a graphic they use in their stories. It says it all.“

I disagree.

Monorail Monoliths

These tall pillars are the remnants of a much vaunted ‘mass’ transit system which wouldn’t actually have carried many people. It was announced earlier this week that the monorail had been abandoned due to the lack of (foreign) funding and Gov. Fuzzy Bodoh said that Jakarta only wanted public transportation that was cost-efficient, and with the monorail project scrapped, it would seek an alternative system of mass public transportation that would have a larger capacity and a lower construction cost.

He did not elaborate.

So it was with some surprise that two days ago the City Hall website announced the following:

Special Flyover for TransJakarta Bus to Be Built

Jakarta Provincial Government has decided to not continue the monorail project which has been delayed all this time. However, the pillars for that project will not be destroyed because it will be converted as pillars for TransJakarta bus special flyover. It is planned that 50 trailer buses with capacity of 180 passengers will be prepared in that special lane, while the tariff is estimated between Rp 6-8 thousand.

However, the subsidy mechanism will still be applied as current TransJakarta bus, i.e. Rp.3,500. It is predicted this circular lane could transport about 45 passengers each day with three minutes of headway.

“45 passengers each day”? Shurely shome mishtake, eh?

Of course, the pillars will have to be strengthened, possibly even replaced, as most have been exposed to Jakarta’s acidic pollution for the past four years. Still, on the face of it, this might be a good idea as those monorail pillars are planned to be built 16 bus stop points with loop line. Among those points, 12 of it will become transfer points to other corridors and train stations. The bus stops which will be built are Polda Metro Jaya, SCBD, Niaga Bank, Senayan Roundabout, Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Senayan Plaza, Palmerah, Pejompongan, Karet, Sudirman, Setiabudi Utara, Kuningan Madya, Sumantri Casablanca Sports Hall (GOR), Health Ministry, Kuningan Timur, and Satria Mandala – all within central Jakarta. One may assume that there will also be easy access to other Busway routes, hopefully as extensions rather than as a limited loop.

Having gone this far, seemingly in an amazingly short time, perhaps City Hall would now consider changing the function of the two elevated roads currently under construction, and limit their use to the Busway and, if there’s sufficient width, bike lanes.

And while they’re at it, how about a bike share scheme? Within a few months there are going to be 10,000 bikes for hire silently whooshing through the streets of New York.

… in appalling English, read Berita Jakarta, the official website of the Jakarta Provincial Government. At first, the website was named Jakarta News, but another side has owned it so the beritajakarta.com name came up and it became the name of the website. Now beritajakarta.com becomes the name of official website of Jakarta Provincial Government.

The following snippets have been lifted from today's 'edition' (22.9.11)
 
Gas Fuel Stock in Pinang Ranti SPBBG Running Low
Due to machine disturbance at Fuel Gas Filling Station (SPBBG) in Daan Mogot and Kampung Rambutan some time ago, the SPBBG in Pinang Ranti becomes flooded with TransJakarta bus to refill its fuel.

Jakarta Ready for World Metropolitan City 
In order to realize metropolitan city in the world, various efforts have been conducted by Jakarta Capital City Government. One of the efforts is inviting Germany Government to realize this thing.

June 24-26, Visit Passer Baroe Festival 
For Jakarta residents who want to spent weekend, the 12th Passer Baroe Festival is good choice for touring and shopping which has historical education as well as promising entertainment. (NB. Note the date – "promising entertainment")

There's a section on Women's Empowerment.

Installing Nako Windows, A Metromini Ticketed
Still related to rape cases in public minivans recently, Jakarta Transportation Department held raid toward unfeasible public transports and tinted windows in Rawamangun Terminal.

Family Role is Important to Anticipate Trash Problem
In order to anticipate trash problem in Jakarta, we cannot rely on cleaning service. But people participation, in family is also needed because every household in Jakarta also donates a lot of trashes.

However, anyone who worries that women are rising above their station in life witll be pleased with this profile of Chandrawaty, Head of North Jakarta Elementary Education Sub-Department

As a bureaucrat, Chandra possesses capabilities as lecturer. In fact, she holds doctorate degree. Her bachelor degree obtained from IKIP Jakarta (UNJ at that time) for Education major. Her post-graduate and doctorate degree were also obtained from UNJ majoring in Education and Education Management.

With her tight schedules as a bureaucrat and a lecturer, she never forgot her nature as a woman. She is a quite good cook and also handy in cleaning her house without the help of housemaid.

That sums up the the mindset of the incompetents in City Hall, from the soon to be electorally rejected Governor Fuzzy Bodoh downwards.

No resident of Jakarta, or visitor (apart from Barack Obama), needs to be told that getting around the city is a very stressful activity. However, that is what a Public Policy Student writing in his Jakarta Post sponsored blog has done.

Like many other Jakarta inhabitants, technically I don’t live in Jakarta but spend most of my time and daily activities there. I live just a bit south of Jakarta where you cross a bridge and administratively belong to the South Tangerang bureaucracy under the Banten Province. Others may live in Depok, Cibubur, Bekasi, and even Bogor, but still make their living in Jakarta.

My daily routine starts by waking up early in the morning, bracing myself for the traffic congestion that I knowingly will endure when I go to my office. On a good day, it will take me 45 minutes; 1 hour for a realistic estimate and 2 hours for a worst-case scenario. However, you factor the time when you commute back to your house, on average you will spend 1,5-4 hours on the road in Jakarta, per day.

A good friend who's been here the same length of time as me, 23+ years, told me yesterday that he estimated that he'd spent close to three years in taxis in that time. I use public transport when that's an available option, and always carry some reading material, but my expenditure must be roughly the same as his, and if I add on what my family spends on their individual outings ….. .

Further reinforcement of how bad things are comes from Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company whose "Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies" -  and not referring to their tautology. Their Journey Experience Index ranks Jakarta at 23rd out of 23 cities worldwide because commuters "... were mainly dissatisfied due to traffic congestion for individual transport and overcrowding in public transportation."

I am surprised to note that Singapore is only ranked at 23 because it's a positive pleasure to get around, if only for a day or two.

Copenhagen sounds nice as it "topped the index with an average score of 81.5 points in overall journey experience – public and private transportation – due to its high usage of non-motorised transport, such as bicycles and integrated public transportation system." And a focus on improved pedestrian areas. However, "Seattle and Sydney scored highly due to its excellent road infrastructure and high car ownership. Our analysis shows that cities with high car ownership tend to record higher satisfaction in overall journey experience."

That last sentence is the very reason for Jakarta's low ranking! Seven years ago I suggested that Jakarta should have a Five Year Transport Plan as adopted by London. A number of its proposals seemed eminently sensible and could have been adopted here.

Seven years later, none of these have happened:
•  Switch to low-floor buses with CCTV.
•  Introduction of low-emission zone by 2007
•  Initiatives to encourage more walking
•  pedestrian crossings giving priority to pedestrians.
•  New street lighting (rather than illuminated adverts).
•  New security measures for stations, e.g. no ticket touts.

But work has commenced on the following:
•  A cycle network – albeit a single bike lane
•  Extension of the 3-in-1 scheme throughout the day – due to be replaced with an electronic congestion charge next year … or … maybe notl
• Air-cooled trains – new (secondhand) rolling stock has made a difference although carriages are deteriorating fast.
•  Rail link from town to Soekarno-Hatta Airport. – land clearance is underway at Manggarai in preparation for its transformation into Jakarta’s main rail hub. Or, that’s what we’ve been told.

The monorail has been abandoned and two elevated roads are under construction and adding to the congestion. In brief, any ‘improvements’ have been offset by a focus on the ‘needs’ of private motorists. And the rest of us continue to suffer.

Such is the incompetence of City Hall, that Central Government has now stepped in with a 'solution': based on a presidential regulation, it will form a Greater Jakarta Transportation Authority (OTJ)  to solve Jakarta's transport problem's.. The only problem is that this will solve little, given that six toll roads are part of the plan.

There is the familar proposal to add to the rail network, such as from Maggarai to Soekarno-Hatta airport, yet with a limited budget from the government to maintain and develop its aging infrastructure, the country’s railway operator has been struggling to survive “unfair” competition with road-based transportation, which has been heavily subsidized by the government.

There are so many incidences of reasonable ideas being floated, then not carried out because meetings need to be held to draft regulations, or (most probably) to allocate brown envelopes.

Why else should the Jakarta Administration soon start building underground walkways to support the planned Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network system, when they haven't yet determined exactly where the stations will be? And couldn't they first provide them for access to the Busway, for example at the Kampung Melayu terminus where you risk your life in crossing crowded roads?

On our visit to the Taman Prasasti Cemetery, Our Kid and I got off one Busway stop too early, Bank Indonesia instead of Monumen Nasional, and had a bit of a hike to the haven. One road, Jl.Abdul Muis, had an unexpectedly navigable pavement (Am. sidewalk). I remarked on this and he replied that this was because very few people used it. Similarly fine pedestrian passageways can be found beneath the cloverleaf intersection at Semangg where I've rarely seen a soul.

The rakyat are coerced into electing legislators with false promises, none of which seem to be of benefit to any other than those elected. Much like this blog post, but with less cohesion, the management of Jakarta's mass transport is a matter of 'cut and paste'. It's nearly time to tell them to cut it out or the electors will surely give them a right pasting the next time they go to the polls.

Postscript
I'm pleased that the Jakarta Transport Agency are now planning to connect public bus routes with train stations. The nine train stations targeted are Sudirman, Gambir, Juanda and Pasar Senen Stations in Central Jakarta; Jakarta Kota and Tanjung Priok Stations in North Jakarta; Mampang Station in South Jakarta and Matraman Station in East Jakarta.

Agency chief Udar Pristono said, “We will construct special access from these stations to the nearest Transjakarta bus shelters.” Mind you, it doesn't quite fit with my suggestion four years ago that extra Busway haltes should be built, e.g. at Sudirman station which is midway, at a distance of at least half a kilometre from Tosari and  Dukuh Atas haltes.

Nor does it help that current access is unsafe due to "funding woes".

Note how motorcyclists couldn't clog up the Cambridge Busway as they do in Jakarta.