Jakarta Traffic Jam Worsens, in Addition to Increasing Air Pollution
Editor
12 August 2023 23:04 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Traffic jams in Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta recently showed a worsening situation, in addition to the highly bad air pollution. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded that the traffic congestion in Jakarta and the surrounding cities reached 53 percent, which is no longer ideal.
“Check during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was 35 percent. The hope is no more than 50 percent,” said Jakarta Traffic Police Director, Sr. Comsr. Latif Usma, in a statement on Saturday, August 12, 2023.
He said that Jakarta Metro Police had requested Jakarta Government to divide working hours in Jakarta into 2 shifts. But the proposal is stuck. "Therefore, the best thing we can do today is deploying all our members at [traffic jam] critical points.”
The effect of the worsening congestion is the increasing economic loss. Latif said the losses caused by Jakarta traffic jams reached Rp71 trillion in 2019. According to him, it is highly possible to reach Rp30 trillion this year.
President Joko Widodo previously claimed that the losses born by the people due to traffic congestions in Jakarta Greater Area and Bandung reached Rp100 trillion per year. Jokowi hoped the public will shift the use of private vehicles to public transportation.
The government, Jokowi went on, will also give tariff subsidies for public transportation so that people are willing to shift to public transport. "It is every year that our losses are nearly IDR 100 trillion. This must be solved immediately because our country's macro economy is very large," the President said at Dukuh Atas LRT Station on Thursday, August 10.
Jakarta Acting Governor Heru Budi Hartono previously said that transportation was currently the number one contributor to the worsening air pollution in the capital city. “It's about 50 percent from transportation,” he said Thursday, at the Home Affairs Ministry, Central Jakarta.
The governor said that Jakarta's air pollution recently showed an unhealthy quality, even the worst among the world's big cities. Several parties said that this condition is likely possibly influenced by the dry season.
Desty Luthfiani
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