Govt tells housing complexes to unblock roads

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration's plan to open all gates in housing complexes has drawn particular opposition from residents in Pondok Indah in South Jakarta.

Governor Fauzi Bowo has said gates in housing complexes block public access to main roads and worsen traffic, and thus need to be opened, if not dismantled.

He said the administration was studying which gates must be immediately opened, adding the manner of execution would be up to the respective municipalities.

Pondok Indah residents are brainstorming ideas of how to open a number of gates while still keeping them closed at certain times for security reasons.

Louis Pakaila, a spokesman for Pondok Indah residents, asked Friday the administration table plans until a residents' meeting could take place.

"Representatives from five community heads in Pondok Indah will have a meeting tomorrow evening," he said.

The meeting, he said, would determine which gates would be opened and the period of time they would stay open.

However, Louis said, the meeting would only consider gates that grant public access to main roads.

Louis said Pondok Indah community leaders earlier ordered a number of gates, particularly those near main streets, to be closed from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Deputy Governor Prijanto said residents who set up gates "have breached both the 2007 law on spatial planning and the 2007 law on public order".

"The spatial planning law guarantees public access to all streets," he said.

He said no individual or institution could install a gate without permission from the governor.

Pondok Indah residents closed the gates during peak hours in September when construction began on a new busway corridor.

The corridor, which passes through Jl. Metro Pondok Indah, will eventually link Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to Harmoni in Central Jakarta.

Motorists began taking alternative roads to avoid massive traffic jams on Jl. Metro Pondok Indah caused by the construction.

In a community forum website one commuter said closed gates had been a cause of traffic jams in the area.

Residents said they sought to head off possible crime by closing the gates.

"Residents can count on the nearest police station if they fear that opening gates means giving rise to crime," said Prijanto.

The administration is also considering dismantling traffic bumps that were built without permission in some housing complexes.