Launch of Jakarta river taxis delayed as waterways are waste-clogged

The Straits Times, May 26, 2007
By Devi Asmarani, INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT


TRIAL STAGE: A worker measuring the depth of the Ciliwung River from the deck of a river taxi during a trial run for the new river transport service in Manggarai, South Jakarta.







JAKARTA - JAKARTA'S latest attempt to ease traffic congestion by promoting river transport has hit a snag.

Recent trial runs of the river taxis saw engines dying in mid-trip as garbage got caught in the boats' propellers, while passengers complained about the foul smell from the polluted rivers.

The launch of the service has been postponed until the waterways are cleared of debris.

An official in charge of river transport in Jakarta's Office of Public Transport, Mr Muhammad Zakky, said: 'The problem is that people have very little discipline - they treat the river as one big trash can.

'There is so much garbage on the river, the boats often get stuck and the engines would die.'

He said industrial and household waste clogged up much of the rivers, often leading to serious floods in the city during the wet season.

He said the public works and water management departments are dredging the rivers for trash, but they alone cannot keep the rivers clean without cooperation from the public.

There are plans to conduct campaigns to stress the importance of keeping the rivers clean.

The city authorities say that when the river taxi service is launched, it will take a while before it can handle a full load of commuters during weekdays.

It will be able to meet traffic demand only on weekends.

This means that most passengers will be tourists on sightseeing tours of the city rivers.

The route will take them along the 1.7km stretch of the West Flood Canal in Central Jakarta. There are plans for more stops to cover a distance of 3.5km.

Officials hope eventually to open a 40km route that will connect the West Flood Canal with the East Flood Canal, which will be built later this year.

The plan to develop river transport was hatched three years ago to complement the mass rapid transit system.

The first part of the system, the busway, was operational two years ago, while the subway project is currently at the feasibility- study stage.

The privately funded monorail project, however, has been beset by disputes and financial problems.

The mass rapid transit system is expected to ease massive traffic jams in Jakarta, where private car ownership goes up by about 11 per cent every year compared with the 1 per cent increase in newly constructed roads annually.

There are now more than 2.5 million private cars and 3.8 million motorcycles in the city, but only 255,000 public transportation vehicles.

The city administration had predicted that, by 2014, the city's roads will be gridlocked if no drastic measures are taken to reduce the number of private cars on the road.


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LACK OF DISCIPLINE

'The problem is that people have very little discipline - they treat the river as one big trash can.'
MR MUHAMMAD ZAKKY, an official in charge of river transport in Jakarta's Office of Public Transport, on the river pollution problem