TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After a visit to the reportedly fractured Kebon Baru dam in Tebet, South Jakarta, DKI Jakarta Governor Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo rushed directly to Ancol, North Jakarta. There, the former Mayor of Solo inaugurated a fleet of 30 new Transjakarta buses.

“By saying Bismillah, today I inaugurate thirty new Transjakarta buses,” Jokowi said at the Transjakarta bus stop in Ancol, on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Afterwards he sounded the horn and was received with fervent applause.

In the event, Jokowi was accompanied by the Head of the Transportation Division of DKI Jakarta, Udar Pristono, and North Jakarta Vice Mayor Heru Budi Hartono. Jokowi then took a ride in one of the new buses. He chose to sit in the center of the new bus, which was imported from China.

The bus moved away slowly from the bus stop, taking Gunung Sahari street to Mangga Dua. Although water level in the area was about twenty centimeters high, the bus kept going. From the inside, Jokowi observed the flooded streets. The group finally went off at the Juanda bus stop.

The 30 buses inaugurated today are going to be placed in the PGC-Ancol and Harmoni-Lebak Bulus route. Previously, another 30 new buses have been made official last Wednesday. Those buses were placed in Corridor II (Pulogadung-Senayan) and Corridor III (Kalideres-Harmoni-Senayan Roundabout).

SINGGIH SOARES