Jakarta and Flood Season

It might be odd to many people if I call "Flood Season" in Jakarta. To the common sense, season is just proper to be associated with 'such as' Rainy Season, Dry Season, Holyday Season, Peak Season, and none of which are good to be assoceated with "Flood". However, the terms is growingly becoming friendly to most of Jakartanist ears, and Indonesians at commons. This is because of the fact that almost in all rainy season, Jakarta is almost always facing flood problem so that bacause of it's high frequency of flood happening then people call it as "Flood Season".

It's a kind of difficult to trace which among the factors to the dominant source of the flood. Some people say that it's because of the bad habit of the Jakartanist in dealing with daily housing garbage and trash which then causes many of drainage system does not work in proper. Some other say that the weak coordination among institutions that directly or indirectly related to the city drainage system also as another contributor to the flood. Just to be mentioned, how telecommunication company digs the road-side for the purpose of improving telecommunication networking not in a synchronized coordination with those institutions that are responsible with road and drainage construction. This will be more serious when it happens at the season where rain is coming. Other people say that the most responsible to the flood case is the bad quality of the drainage system at the whole.

This posting is not intended to evaluate which are the most serious cause of the flood among those causes stated above, but it is intended to raise the consiousnes of all about how each can participate in their own capacity to reduce the possibility flood disaster in Jakarta. To the common and ordinary people, let's just start from ourselves. Let's make our surounding be a kind of clean and flood-free environment by implementing proper waste-disposal and implementing life with cleanliness. Let's stop mocking-only and protesting-only to our surounding, but start looking ourselves' role in the case. To the government and other informal institutions which responsibility is theirs, never lost your mind and your attention to the flood. The repetitive happening of the flood should be a good experience as well as a teacher in guiding in dealing with the flood. Making detail analysis and generating alternative solutions should be always be conducted. Master plan as the whole strategy should be defined well as a guidence to all related parties, both government institutions and private ones. Last but not least, let's make the word "Flood Season" become odd and strange as what it should be. I love Jakarta.

Dealing with Jakarta Traffic-Jam Problems

Right at the moment, Jakarta is facing a delicate problem which is commonly also faced by most of big cities in the world. Traffic is one of the most significant and serious problem here in Jakarta. The constant growht of car and motor ownership is one of the potential contribution to the problem, while at the same time the road and space available to the vehicles tend to be stagnant with no significant widening.

Dealing with the above-stated situation, the local government of Jakarta has taken into account some solutions, some of which have been implemented, and some others are still in the effort to be in place. Among others are the development of mass rapid transit called "Bus Way" (already implemented), elevated way "Monorail" (still in the initial construction), and the plan to build subway system. Besides, the government has also implemented some supporting regulations in the effort to reduce the number of vehicles running on the roads, such as Three-In-One Policy, and still in discussion to increase the cost of parking fee (tax?).

Among those solutions, in my opinion, there is one which currently may not yet be consedered as a potential best solution to the problem, i.e. the development of "Motor Way". The reason I raise this alternative is two: (i) motor is emphirically proven as a fast means of transportation with efficient need of space, just imagine with 0,5m x 1,5m space-need motor can move one or two persons, and compare it with car which needs at least 1,5m x 3-4m space for only and commonly also one or two persons. In this sense, motor gives much more efficency in the need of road space; (ii) motor is also known as one of the efficent vehicle in terms of fuel consumption. With this in mind, in my belief, motor will give much more savings in the fuel consumption.

If some people may think that motorcycles are the most contributors to the traffic chaos/problem, we may argue that it may be because that so far the motorcycles have not been given with special treatment. So, in my opinion, and hopefully to be such a course of thinking to the policy-makers, "Motor Way" needs to be well considered as one of the alternative solution to the traffic problem in Jakarta.

Jakarta, 12/11/2007