What have you done, Fauzi?

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 10/10/2009 11:16 AM | Opinion

When Fauzi Bowo said he was the best person to lead Jakarta two years ago, no one doubted it. As a bureaucrat within the Jakarta administration for nearly 30 years, he was supposed to be an expert able to solve difficult problems of the capital city – chaotic traffic, annual flooding, undelivered piles of garbage, poor public services, poverty and others. Therefore, it was no surprise to find him winning the 2007 gubernatorial election.

Fauzi and deputy governor Prijanto were sworn in on Oct. 7, 2007 after defeating Adang Daradjatun and his running mate Dani Anwar in the first-ever direct election in the city. Fauzi received support from nearly all political parties in the city, with the exception of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), during the election.

Two years after the election, unfortunately, Jakartans still cannot see any of the significant changes promised by Fauzi. Traffic congestion has got even worse compared to two years ago because of the stagnancy of projects aimed at easing traffic flow. Large tracts of the city are still under threat of annual flooding because of the sluggish progress of the East Flood Canal (BKT) project, the largest flood mitigation project in the city.

His failure to address these two problems is enough reason to give him a red ink progress report for his two years in office, because both have caused suffering to many city residents. Although it is surely unfair to demand Fauzi solve all of the city’s complex problems within just two years, we Jakartans are frustrated to see the city administration has introduced no policies or programs to address these two major problems.

The governor has even failed to encourage motorists to shift to the existing Transjakarta busway because of the degradation in service quality. Busway users have to stand longer at bus stops and terminals because the city administration has failed to deploy an adequate number of buses along the busway corridors, and has even let several busway lanes go unused. Neither has it made any decision on the fate of the monorail project, the supporting pillars for which have stood idle for years.

While we appreciate the administration’s wish to develop the 14.5-kilometer Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, we hope it will not ignore the existing public transportation projects which have greater potential to solve the traffic chaos in the city.

Governor Fauzi needs to complete the 23.5-kilometer East Flood Canal project as a matter of urgency. Upon completion, the project, the original design of which was drafted in the 70s, is believed to be able to ease flooding across a 270-square-kilometer area in the eastern part of the city.

The terrible state of the micro drainage systems that often spark the flooding on many city streets also needs attention as it make traffic congestion worse during rainy seasons.

We completely understand there are many other problems that need the equal attention of the city administration. But unfortunately, Jakartans have not seen Fauzi make any significant progress in other sectors over the last two years. It seems the governor has to move faster to prove he is really an expert on Jakarta. He has three more years to demonstrate his expertise, or voters will abandon him.