E-ticketing for Crossings Transportation to Begin in August

Tempo Interactive, Friday, 30 July, 2010 | 15:49 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Transportation Ministry announced that e-ticketing for crossings transportation will be applied again as of next August. The system, intended to reduce the number of ticket scalpers, was halted for a few months due to software damage.

“E-ticketing will definitely reduce the number of scalpers,” said the Traffic and River,Lake, and Crossing Transportation (ASDP) Director Winarno, contacted by Tempo, recently. The system will also improve transportation services, such as a guarantee in getting tickets and punctuality.

Thee-ticketing system was implemented on two crossing lanes, the Merak-Bakauheni and Ketapang-Gilimanuk, on June and August last year, but this was stopped asof May 2010. “There was some technical problem. We had to repair the software first,” said Winarno. Changes in the executive board also slowed down the process.

He said he could not predict how ticket scalpers operated when the e-ticketing system was in effect, and when the system was temporarily stopped. According to Winarno, the state-owned Indonesian Ferry company should know more about thisand hoped it can be implemented again before people go back to their home towns for Lebaran. “We plan to operate this by August,” he said.

Thee-ticketing system at crossings ports is part of PT Indonesia Ferry’s business transformation plan when Bambang Soerjanto still headed the office It was also to ensure transparency in the company’s share of the port’s revenues.

E-ticketing has been applied in the ports of Merak, Banten, and Bakauheni Lampung;Ketapang, East Java, and Gilimanuk, Bali; Padangbai, Bali, and Lembar, West Nusa Tenggara. Indonesia Ferry plans to have all ports in the southern belt use this system. An estimated Rp 1 billion per port is required for this system.

ADISTIDINI INDRESWARI

Survivors

The Jakarta Post, Tue, 11/24/2009 8:51 PM

Sri Wahyuni (in pink) answers questions from journalists at Sekupang seaport of Batam on Tuesday. She and her baby Davi AL were the lucky passengers of the KM Dumai Express 10 who survived floating three hours in a lifeboat. (JP/Fadli)

Never give up

The Jakarta Post  |  Mon, 03/02/2009 11:55 AM  
 

 Two residents row a wooden boat to transport their rice crops in flooded Tiyak village, Kanor district, Bojonegoro regency. At least 49 villages in 11 districts in the regency were inundated over the past three days due to the overflowing Bengawan Solo River. JP/ID Nugroho

Mimika starts new plane, ferry, tankers

Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika | Wed, 12/03/2008 11:11 AM  

The Mimika administration in Papua started operating an airplane, a landing craft ferry and two fresh water tankers Tuesday to serve residents in the regency. 

Acting Mimika regent Athanasius Allo Rafra officiated the launch of the three different transportation modes at Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika. 

The launch was attended by Mimika Legislative Council Speaker Yoseph Yopi Kilangin, a number of high-ranking local officials as well as religious and community leaders. 

Timika bishop Mgr. John Philip Saklil was there to christen the plane during a brief ceremony. The plan underwent a one-month trial at airstrips in the regency and the central mountains region. 

The Transportation Ministry issued an operation license for the plane -- the first ever to operate in the regency -- in response to the public's expectations for transportation modes. 

The regency administration purchased the Swiss-made Pilatus PC-6 Porter complete with supporting equipment, one-year insurance and spare parts at a sum of Rp 23 billion (US$1.85 million). 

The airplane was christened Amor -- short for Amungme and Kamoro, the largest tribes in the regency. It will be operated by PT Mimika Air to serve six districts in the mountainous part of the regency, including Agimuga, Jila and Jita districts. 

The single turboprop engine Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a versatile general utility aircraft with a short take-off and landing ability, making it suited to the mountainous terrain of Papua. 

The aircraft has a capacity of two crew members and six passengers, or a cargo of 1,000 kilograms. 

The ferry was christened Mumuika, the old name of Mimika, and has a capacity of 30 passengers and five crew members and 100 tons of cargo. 

The ferry is to serve six coastal districts in Mimika, including East Mimika, West Mimika and Tipuka districts. 

In his keynote speech, Kilangin said the legislature had approved the plane procurement after a heated debate during budgetary discussions. 

Because of significant public support, the legislature finally endorsed the purchase of the plane, he added. 

Kilangin said the Mimika regency had made a breakthrough in purchasing the plane as it would open up the isolated regency. 

Six airstrips in the mountainous region are ready, he said. 

Amungme tribal figure Thomas Wanwang said the procurement of the plane, ferry and water tankers met the public's expectations. 

"I am grateful and happy that the plane and ferry will serve people in mountainous and coastal areas of Mimika," he said. 

Athanasius said the procurements were purely for the sake of the people of Mimika. 

"I once told Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu that the provincial administration had already bought six ferries, but they only served people in the northern part of the province," he said. 

"So I took the initiative to purchase the ferry for the sake of coastal communities in Mimika." 

The acting regent ends his tenure as acting regent on Wednesday, handing over his authority to the governor.

Help on the way to dredge city waterways

Tifa Asrianti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta  | Sat, 11/15/2008 11:04 AM  

The Netherlands is sending two heavy dredging machines to Jakarta in order to help the city tackle flooding. 

Team leader of the Dutch Assistance Jakarta Flood Management Pilot Dredging Project, Peter Vroege, said the equipment would be used for two narrow and shallow waterways, the Mati and Pademangan canals in North Jakarta. 

The city administration expects to dredge between 20,000 and 30,000 cubic meters of mud from Mati and Pademangan canals. Mati canal is 2,000 meters long and 12 meters wide, while Pademangan is 2,000 meters long and 2-3 meters wide. 

Vroege said his team would operate the dredging equipment, dubbed floating bulldozers, for three months, from Nov. 24 to February, before giving them to the city administration. 

"We will train the officers at the public works agency so they will be able to operate the equipment on other waterways," he said, adding that the equipment had been used for the last 25 years in the Netherlands. 

Jakarta Public Works Agency head Wisnu Subagyo Yusuf said the pilot project would teach the Jakarta administration the best way to dredge small waterways using the equipment. 

"It doesn't mean the equipment can stop flooding though. It works best on small waterways," he said. 

The equipment is worth 700,000 euros, consisting of one medium-sized floating bulldozer, one small-sized floating bulldozer, spare parts and a rotating drum, which will separate the mud from garbage. 

The floating bulldozers push the mud up to the excavator and rotating drum, and then pack the mud into dump trucks. The mud will be put on a two-hectare plot of land belonging to beach management company PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol. 

To finance the operational costs, the city administration has allocated Rp 1.5 billion in the 2008 revised budget. The budget will cover the cost of diesel for the bulldozers and trucks as well as the cost of establishing an office for the training session. 

Vroege said the equipment arriving at Tanjung Priok Port was a substitute before the new equipment arrived in early January, adding that his team would finish the tender process for the new equipment by next week. 

"However, we must start dredging before the rainy season. We shipped one machine to see if it fit in the waterways and to make some adjustment. So that when the equipment arrives, we can operate them straight away," he said. 

Besides dredging the waterways, the Pilot Dredging Project will also involve the public in the flood mitigation plan. 

"We will hold a neighborhood cleaning program so that communities living near the waterways can clean small canals and gutters in their neighborhood. We will also hold solid waste management to reduce waste from the sources," Vroege said.

Dutch-made floating bulldozers to dredge city canals

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 11/14/2008 8:49 PM  |  Jakarta 

The city administration plans to dredge two urban waterways using equipment from the Netherlands to mitigate flooding in the city. 

Peter Vroege, team leader from the Jakarta Flood Management Pilot Dredging Project, said the equipment would be dispatched in two narrow and shallow waterways, the Mati and Pademangan canals in North Jakarta. 

He said the dredging machines, dubbed floating bulldozers, would dredge the waterways for three months, from Nov. 17 to February. 

"Before we hand over the equipment to the city, we will train public works officials so they are able to operate the equipment on other waterways," he said. 

The equipment is valued at 700,000 euros (US$890,000).

Mass transportation system still in the work

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakartans might agree that crawling along, hour after hour, trapped in traffic is the major urban living issue of the year, with the busway being the subject of the hour.

But the Jakarta administration says it has a remedy for the exasperating traffic situation -- a macro transportation framework.

Since experts in 2004 drew up a comprehensive plan for moving people and goods about the city -- the Transporation Framework -- Jakarta has been expecting something big to happen.

The framework is a grand 10-year plan for an integrated transportation system that, it is hoped, will ameliorate chronic traffic congestion and stave off gridlock -- predicted by 2014.

The framework comprises busways, a water taxi, rail-based transportation, a monorail, and a subway, as well as roads linking them together in an integrated system.

Transportation experts have clearly stated that without a public transportation system none of the world's big cities can go on functioning correctly.

As the cheapest mass transportation method the administration has ever built, the busway has drawn applause but also criticism.

The fact sheet says the number of commuters using the busway has increased since its first year of operation, abreast with the growing number of busway corridors: from 15.94 million in 2004, to 20.8 million in 2005 and 38.83 million in 2006, according to busway operator TransJakarta. TransJakarta 2007 will see 59.44 million riders use the busway seven routes.

On the ugly side, apparently the busway has done little to ease congestion because it hasn't been an attractive choice for most motorists. Fewer-than-needed buses and "huge" operational costs have been blamed for poor service, which in turn holds back popularity.

"A project will become a milestone only if we have both good planning and implementation," says Soetanto Soehodho, a transportation expert at the University of Indonesia's Center for Transportation Studies. "The busway plan is excellent. The entangling problems are in the implementation."

The administration is constructing three new busway lanes that are expected to be finished by Dec. 15. The construction has resulted in even worse congestion. Temporary relief was given to motorists when they were allowed to use certain sections of busway lanes in November. The policy, however, hurts busway users because it takes them longer to reach their destinations.

As Soetano suggests, one problem after another will prevent the success of transportation schemes unless they are well-planned and implemented. It is more important for the administration, he says, to evaluate and optimize the seven existing corridors than to build new ones.

Meanwhile, it seems busway progress has temporarily come to a stop -- even before all the new corridors have been rolled out. "The city budget has been available only since around May this year, while public bidding for such construction takes five to six months of preparation and three to six months for the process itself," says Budi Kuntjoro of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. "Such condition can result in months of delays."

The presence of the busway system is not to blame for traffic delays; the presence and growing number of private vehicles that occupy 90 percent of the road space is, says Budi.

"The efficiency of private vehicles is also low as they carry only half of the total passengers."

Approximately 1.5 million cars were sold last year in Jakarta. During the first three months of this year 1.51 million cars and 3.32 motorcycles were sold.

"The number of vehicles sold every year rises by 10 percent, while the roadway expands by no more than 0.1 percent annually," he says.

Jakarta roadway is now equal to 40 square kilometers and can only accommodate -- at any one time -- only 0.01 percent of the total number of cars, according to City Public Works Agency head Wisnu Subagya Yusuf.

To help reduce traffic by limiting the use of private vehicles, electronic road pricing (ERP) is one answer, Budi says. The institute is still doing feasibility studies for a Rp 1 trillion (US$107.53 million) ERP project and hopes to have it in place by 2011.

One way or another, a working traffic system will require mass transportation, limiting the use of private vehicles and re-mapping the routes used by private motorists, says Soetanto.

However, there is always the risk that traffic jams will simply be displaced rather than eliminated. Creating new roads -- except as part of a comprehensive plan -- would only encourage the use of private vehicles and be a temporary solution says Andi Rahmah of the Indonesian Transportation Society. "Road expansion will never resolve traffic congestion."

Rules regarding ownership and use of private vehicles may be one solution, but the administration will likely choose something "safer".

As one of Indonesia's leading industries, it wouldn't be practical to impinge on auto makers," said Fauzi.

In Soetanto's opinion, limiting the use of private vehicles can be successful if "suitable mass transportation options are already available for car users ready to make the switch".

In another attempt at traffic mitigation, the administration has committed to a multi-trillion Mass Rapid Transit -- or subway -- project by 2014.

The project will unlikely be derailed at this point as the administration has been promised the approximately Rp 8.3 trillion it needs for the project in the form of soft loans by Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The project also enjoys the support of the central government.

"We have the central government on our side. Unlike the monorail project, which is handled by a private company. I guarantee this MRT project will be successful," then-deputy governor Fauzi Bowo said in August when revealing the project road map.

In the first phase, the MRT will be able to transport 400,000 commuters daily from Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, to Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta -- 14.3 kilometers -- in only 32 minutes.

The long-delayed monorail project depends on whether there is political will to make it a reality. "It is a matter of how to attract investment, too," says Soetanto.

The administration once had an ambition to see through the $480-million monorail project. But the fate of the project is now hanging on a thread and fail entirely as neither the city nor central government has recently given any clear signs on the project.

Meanwhile, one foreign investor after another has come and left -- after finding the financial scheme offered by monorail developer PT Jakarta Monorail didn't suit them, notwithstanding central government backing. The monorail developer is suspected to be insolvent although director Sukmawaty Syukur denies the accusation.

"The monorail project has stopped because (Jakarta Monorail) doesn't have the money," said then-deputy governor Fauzi. The on-and-off project construction has left a series of idle pillars along Central and South Jakarta's main streets.

Wondering if railway-based transportation is the key to traffic mitigation, the central government and the city launched the double-track railway linking Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and Serpong in Banten in July. The project cost the central government Rp 320 billion. The Serpong-Tanah Abang route is to be the pilot for the country's first modern railway network.

The administration is also planning to connect Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport with a double-track railway.

Water operator seeks contract review

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the Jakarta administration reviews the performance of two private water operators -- PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ) and PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) -- city-owned water company PAM Jaya wants to review their water contracts.

"We are not satisfied with the operators' performances. Therefore, we are reviewing their contracts to reset targets and standards for the next five years," president director of PAM Jaya, Didit Haryadi, said Tuesday.

The contract appraisal would include legal adjustments to cooperation agreements, which are expected to raise its bargaining position.

In 1997, the city signed a 25-year contract that made PAM Jaya give water concessions to the two private operators to manage the distribution of clean water in Jakarta's eastern and western areas. The contract is subject to an evaluation process every five years.

"The 1997 contract stipulated we must provide the two partners with raw water from Jatiluhur dam. We don't handle such things anymore. We want to have a win-win solution," Didit said

Many customers have complained about the two operators' performances and increasing water tariffs.

Didit said PAM Jaya wanted the partners to reach 75 percent service coverage in the next five years. As for leakage levels, he added, the company expected Palyja to reach 38 percent and TPJ 44 percent.

Coordinator of People's Coalition for the Rights to Water (Kruha) Hamong Santono said according to contractual targets, the two partners had been expected to reduce leakage levels to 39.87 percent and reach 70.18 percent service coverage in 2006.

However, he said, TPJ's leakage level had been recorded at 51 percent and Palyja's at 47 percent.

"Although the administration can review the contracts to improve its bargaining position, I think it would be better to terminate the contracts. It's just a matter of political will," Hamong told The Jakarta Post last week.

TPJ communications director Rhamses Simanjuntak claimed his company had reached 67 percent in service coverage and 51 percent in leakage levels in October. While Palyja public relations manager Meyritha Maryanie said in October her company had reached 58.4 percent in service coverage and around 47 percent in leakage levels.

"Although both operators claim to have broadened their service coverage, it doesn't mean the quality of their service has improved," Hamong said.

Both companies claim high leakage levels were caused by water theft.

Rhamses said in order to fight water theft, his company had curbed illegal connections and set a district meter system. Meyritha said Palyja had reduced its leakages by persuading people who stole water to become customers.

Even though the two water operators have failed to meet their targets, Didit said PAM Jaya did not plan to terminate the contracts, as it would involve a penalty of more than Rp 5 trillion. (tif)

Governor sued over polluted river

The Jakarta Post

SURABAYA, East Java: Members of the group Environmental Watch in Surabaya filed a lawsuit against East Java Governor Imam Utomo on Thursday.

The suit seeks to hold the governor responsible for the high level of pollution in Surabaya River.

Lawyers from the Surabaya Legal Aid Foundation are representing the environmental group in the suit.

Director of the legal foundation, Syaiful Aris, said the governor should be held responsible for pollution in the river.

He said independent analysis had found the level of contaminants in the river far exceeded acceptable limits.

"Before we filed the lawsuit with the Surabaya court, we twice sent legal reprimands to the governor, but he never responded," said Aris.

He said the East Java Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda) was also named in the lawsuit.

Surabaya River is one of the main sources of water for residents of the city.

Director of Ecological Observation and Wetland Conservation (ECOTON), Prigi Arisandi, said the Surabaya River had been polluted by industrial waste since 1999.

He said there had been instances over the years of hundreds of fish washing up dead in the river, but the administration had never taken steps to deal with the pollution.

"Despite the pollution, a large number of Surabaya's residents still depend on the river for their drinking water," he said.

He said the administration had failed to supervise and monitor the numerous factories along the river.

ECOTON investigations have found that at least 80 percent of the factories are not equipped with proper waste treatment facilities.--JP

Jambi to cooperate with JICA to improve river transportation

Jambi, Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The Jambi provincial transportation office in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is planning to implement a river transportation improvement program, a local official said.

River transportation improvement is one of the priorities in Jambi`s five-year development plan, Darma, the local official, said here on Tuesday.

The Batanghari River stretching 1,400 km long in Jambi is being used to transport people as well as goods such as oil palm and coal, he said.

Experts to gather in Jakarta to discuss RI transportation woes

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Transportation businesspeople and planners from China, Britain, Malaysia and Japan will attend a conference in Jakarta from Wednesday to Friday to discuss how Indonesia can solve its land, air and sea transportation problems.

The three-day international conference and exhibition, which is slated to be opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Jakarta Convention Center, will discuss infrastructure issues on Wednesday, transportation problems on Thursday and logistics on Friday.

Kalla will deliver the keynote speech at the opening of the conference, titled "Indonesian Transportation & Logistics Excellence: Enhancing Industry Competitiveness".

"We have had a series of problems in the transportation sector recently. Beside, as a venue for extending business ties in the transportation sector, we hope our businesspeople and officials can draw lessons from these events," said HM Syukur Sakka, president director of PT Wahyu Promo Citra, which is organizing the conference.

A series of air, land and sea accidents in the country have claimed hundreds of lives, drawing heavy criticism of the country's transportation management system.

The European Union has banned Indonesian carriers from flying into its member states, and has advised citizens in the EU from using Indonesian carriers.

China Railway Engineering Group president Li Changli, British Port & Terminal Group director Ken Gibbons, En N Sankunny of AGM Logistics Northport Malaysia, Ryuichi Yoshimoto of Japan Institute for Logistics System and Tetsuo Shibata of Japan External Trade Organization are among the international experts and businesspeople scheduled to speak during the conference.

Indonesian officials, including Transportation Minister Djusman Syafii Djamal, director general for sea transportation Harijogi, director general for land transportation Iskandar Abu Bakar and director general for air transportation Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, will share their experiences in dealing with the country's transportation problems.

There will also be an exhibition of the latest technology in the transportation sector.

"Some 65 international and local transportation and logistics companies have confirmed their participation in the expo so far," Syukur said.

Rising Seas Threaten 21 Mega-Cities

Guardian United, Saturday October 20, 2007 7:31 PM

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Cities around the world are facing the danger of rising seas and other disasters related to climate change.

Of the 33 cities predicted to have at least 8 million people by 2015, at least 21 are highly vulnerable, says the Worldwatch Institute.

They include Dhaka in Bangladesh; Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro; Shanghai and Tianjin in China; Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt; Mumbai and Kolkata in India; Jakarta in Indonesia; Tokyo and Osaka-Kobe in Japan; Lagos in Nigeria; Karachi in Pakistan; Bangkok in Thailand, and New York and Los Angeles in the United States, according to studies by the United Nations and others.

More than one-tenth of the world's population, or 643 million people, live in low-lying areas at risk from climate change, say U.S. and European experts. Most imperiled, in descending order, are China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Egypt, the U.S., Thailand and the Philippines.

Tangerang to explore water taxi system

The Jakarta Post

TANGERANG: The Tangerang municipal administration plans to develop a water taxi system along the Cisadane River, in imitation of Jakarta's water taxi pilot project.

The head of the municipal trade and industry agency, Dafiar E. Hardian, said the water taxi would be a profitable enterprise.

"Water transport in Tangerang carries a lot of potential for development... The Cisadane, the upper course of which reaches Bogor in West Java, runs through both the regency and the municipality of Tangerang," he told journalists Thursday.

The Tangerang city administration is currently studying an action plan that would include escalating several bridges over the river.

Water taxi hours extended after weekend success

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite a few flaws, public reaction to the city's new water taxis has been enthusiastic, with the administration announcing plans to extend their operating hours.

"The number of passengers on the water taxis in the first two days of their operation, Saturday and Sunday, reached 930 people," agency head Nurrachman told reporters at City Hall on Monday.

He added that the agency was planning to add two more hours for the operation of the two water taxis, up from the current four hours. The taxis, launched last Wednesday by Governor Sutiyoso, currently run from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m on Saturday and Sunday.

The water taxis ply a 1.7-kilometer route from Halimun, South Jakarta, to Karet, Central Jakarta, along the Ciliwung River."To anticipate the high demand of passengers, we will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., maybe starting next week," he said.

He said most passengers took a round trip on the water taxis that cost them Rp 3,000 (US33 cents) per person.

"That means most of them rode the taxis for fun," he said.

He said that there were still several problems in the operation of the taxis, such as the garbage floating in the river and the changes made to the river's depth by opening and closing the sluice gates.

He added that the agency was also planning to change the boats currently used as water taxis because the boats currently in use were formerly used to transport people from Jakarta Bay to Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands), and were not specifically designer for rivers.

The boats, Kerapu III and Kerapu VI, have a maximum capacity of 28 people each.

The city administration launched water taxis to introduce a new mode of transportation to help alleviate Jakarta's traffic congestion.

It also hopes to teach resident not to throw garbage in the river because it can hamper the operation of the taxis.

Nurrachman said that the transportation agency and the public works agency were evaluating the possibility of making another water taxi route along the Angke River.

"There is a possibility to open a route along Angke River, at least from Pesing, West Jakarta to Teluk Gong, North Jakarta," he said.

'Eretan': The original taxi for Jakarta's waterways

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Long before the city administration hatched its plan to operate water taxis on Jakarta's rivers, Jakarta residents had eretan.

Eretan are boats tied to metal cables that can carry around a dozen of people, or a few motorcycles and a few people, across the city's rivers.

"I've been ferrying people across the river for 10 years," said 56-year-old Kanam, one of more than 10 eretan operators on West Jakarta's Angke River.

He said he had no other source of income apart from operating the local eretan.

"If the city's water taxis operate on the Angke River then I'll lose my only livelihood, but I can't do anything if the administration bans me from working on this river," he said.

The Jakarta Public Works Agency is running a water taxi pilot project along the Ciliwung River for a 2-kilometer line serving Karet, Halimun and Dukuh Atas.

The agency plans to add another route along the Angke River in 2007. To do this, three bridges, at Genit, Pesing and Teluk Gong, will have to be raised to allow the taxis to pass beneath.

The head of water treatment and management division of the Public Works Agency, Suparman, said the Public Works Agency would have to coordinate with the transportation agency to carry out the project.

"We have not discussed if the eretan could stay in business when the water taxi starts operation... we're still concentrating on the pilot project on the Ciliwung River," he said.

The eretan helps many people living near the Angke River to avoid the daily traffic congestion caused in part by the administration's unfinished projects.

Jusiah, one eretan passenger, who lives in Pesing Poglar, West Jakarta, often crosses the river to Tubagus Angke when she wants to go downtown.

She said taking eretan saved her time, since she did not have to deal with the traffic involved with making a U-turn at Pesing Bridge, which is around 200 meters away Pesing Poglar.

Pesing Bridge is the only way for motorists from Cengkareng in Tangerang and Muara Kapuk and Kamal Muara in North Jakarta, to get to Kota in Central Jakarta or Grogol in West Jakarta. Genit Bridge, the only alternative route, is closed due to unfinished road work.

"Using the eretan is faster and cheaper," Jusiah said, saying it took her less than five minutes and Rp 500 (about US 6 cents) to cross the river.

She added that if she rode a bus or mini van, the trip would have taken her 10 to 20 minutes and cost her Rp 2,000.

Appalling traffic congestion can also be seen in the Teluk Gong, North Jakarta. The city administration has stopped building the Teluk Gong Bridge over the Angke River due to financial constraints.

And the administration does not seem to be in a hurry to fix the situation. "We should wait for the Transportation Agency to propose the project together with the water taxi," said Suparman.

Titi Sasmita, 44, a resident, said that the construction work was abandoned two years ago.

He said the city's plan to expand the water taxi route to Angke River was a good idea since there were many markets along the river.

"There'll be a lot of people interested in using (the water taxi) as long as the administration operates the water taxi seriously and fixes the condition of the area along the river," he said.

City agency says second water taxi is in the works

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration is eyeing the Angke River in North Jakarta as its next water taxi route, despite the serious shortcomings of its Ciliwung River pilot project.

"The Angke River is a potential route for waterway transportation," the head of the Jakarta Public Works Agency, Wisnu Subagyo Yusuf, told reporters Friday.

The agency is planning to adjust the height of three bridges along the Angke River at Pesing, Genit and Teluk Gong to allow water taxis to pass beneath.

"The bridges will have to be at least 2.75 meters above the surface of the water," he said. "But the proposal will only be carried out next year."

Separately, the head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, Nurrachman, told The Jakarta Post that his office had not yet discussed adding new water taxi routes, preferring to concentrate on the existing route first.

The water taxi route running along the Ciliwung River is to open to the public on June 2. Initially it will only operate on Saturdays and Sundays, from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. The transportation agency has yet to decide on the fare price.

In trials earlier this month, the water taxis were often forced to stop by garbage clogging their motors.

During the trial runs, two boats with a capacity of 25 people each covered the 2 kilometer route, stopping at landings in Halimun, Dukuh Atas and Karet.

The city administration has allocated around Rp 17 billion (US$1.8 million) for the operational costs of the water taxis.

The Ciliwung River is the biggest of 13 rivers passing through the capital. It is severely polluted with household and industrial waste. Both the city administration and the central government have attempted numerous times to clean the river, but to no avail.

Wisnu said he would order a double net be installed in front of the Manggarai sluice gate in order to prevent garbage reaching the water taxi route.

"We hope people can learn to take care of the river and not throw garbage in it anymore," he said.

He added that the administration had allocated Rp 33 billion per annum to remove 240,000 cubic meters of trash from the city's rivers.

Water taxi to launch despite problems

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration has continued to shrug off criticism of its water taxi project, saying it is confident about launching the project in the near future despite incomplete infrastructure and rivers full of debris.

Governor Sutiyoso said recently the city administration still wanted to launch the service soon, regardless of its problems, in order to promote the use of rivers for transportation.

"It's not just a matter of (raising awareness for) commercial purposes," he said.

"We also want people to begin a new habit of not throwing garbage in the river because it could interfere with the water taxis."

The water taxi launch was initially slated for the end of this month. The planned service will ply a 4.2-kilometer route from Karet in Central Jakarta to Manggarai in South Jakarta.

The city administration has already provided two speedboats, named Kerapu III and Kerapu VI, for the route. The boats previously serviced routes in Kepulauan Seribu regency, better known as the Thousand Islands.

The administration has also built water taxi stops in Karet Belakang, Halimun and Dukuh Atas.

Khairul, the captain of one of the vessels, said that the biggest problem for him was garbage along the river.

He said that several kinds of garbage, such as thick plastic and fabric, got stuck in boat's motor.

"Unlike with passengers on a bus, where they can easily move to another bus if it breaks down, I still have no idea how to manage it if that happens to a water taxi," he said.

Khairul added that there was no alternative but for the city administration to improve the condition of the Ciliwung River to allow water taxis to operate smoothly.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Nurrachman said he had coordinated with other agencies to clean up the water taxi route.

"It's a matter of people's awareness because they're always throwing their household garbage in the river. So people have to play an important role in the program," he said.

The water taxi service is part of the city's integrated Mass Rapid Transport project, which also involves the busway, subway and monorail projects.

The busway was launched two years ago. It now comprises seven corridors linking a number of areas of the city.

The two most ambitious projects, the subway and monorail system, are estimated to cost the city a combined total of US$1,450 billion.

Govt to revitalize lakes, rivers

The Jakarta Post

BOGOR: The government is allocating Rp 850 billion (US$95 million) to revitalize rivers and lakes in Greater Jakarta and will order developers to stop constructing buildings in such areas.

"If we interrupt any part of the lakes and waterways, it would have an impact to the whole system," said Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto after signing a joint agreement on the revitalization plan with Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban and Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono.

The plan was launched in Situ Cikaret, Bogor, in West Java to commemorate National Water Day.

The Forestry Ministry is also planning to replant 110,000 hectares of land under the program

Domestic travel industry shows signs of recovery

Debnath Guharoy, Consultant, The Jakarta Post

Though the Indonesian transport industry has yet to make a full recovery from the crash of September 2005, it is on an upward trend.

It is poised to win back much of the ground lost as a consequence of the fuel price hikes that year. There will be no fundamental change in the demographics of travelers, either.

The number of females taking trips will be almost as many as the number of males. The younger population will be traveling more than their counterparts who are older than-50, as was the case in the past.

The number of short-trip travellers has always been higher than for long trips. The actual number of short-trip travellers each quarter is traditionally about 10 percent higher than the number of people who are intending to travel.

This is a characteristic of the industry, reflecting the need for unforeseen or unplanned travel sometimes. Similarly, the intention to travel on long trips is usually about 20 percent higher than the number of long trips taken as aspirations and plans get affected by the pressing demands of everyday life.

From 26 million travellers who moved around by land in the 12 months to March 2005, the number dipped to below 18 million as of December 2005, and has gradually clawed its way back to over 21 million at the close of 2006.

Demand overall is still lower, with around 16 million people currently intending to travel in the next 12 months. This includes some 7 million long-trip intenders, over a million of whom will scuttle their plans for unforeseen reasons. That number should be more than compensated for by the number of unplanned short-trip takers, as usual.

This forecast is based on the land, sea and air travel trends continuously measured by Roy Morgan Single Source, without including the everyday use of transportation. Indonesia's largest syndicated survey, the study is now expanding to include over 27,000 respondents this year, projected to reflect the behavior of 90 percent of the population over the age of 14.

Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of travel is within Indonesia. The most popular form of transport is by land, such as buses and trains, followed by air and sea. Only one in seven people get to travel each year, mostly from the mid- and lower-income brackets, in keeping with the structure of Indonesian society. Travel tapers off with age.

However, air travel is not the sole prerogative of Indonesia's small upper-income bracket. Understandably, a disproportionately bigger number of the well-to-do travels by air, but there are just as many less fortunates traveling by air within the country.

Of all Indonesians flying both domestic and international routes, two out of three are traveling for personal reasons or on holiday. If jet fuel prices remain stable and there are no more horror stories, for a while at least, the aviation industry should continue its steady recovery and achieve new heights.

Of the three big metros, Greater Jakarta, Greater Surabaya and Greater Bandung, it is the residents of West Java's capital that are the nation's most avid travellers. 26 percent of the people of Bandung, 24 percent of the people of Surabaya and 16 percent of Jakartans intend to travel next in the next 12 months.

While most of them will, of course, travel to visit family and friends within Indonesia, there are currently almost 2 million people around the country who would like to go overseas next year. About 1.5 million want to travel within the Asia Pacific region, 330,000 to Europe, 150,000 to America and 50,000 to Australia.

I should point out that they include all Indonesian frequent flyers, but exclude resident expatriates and travellers from overseas. To state the obvious, some people fly often but will be counted only as one person, not as several "passengers". As always, plans for about 20 percent of intenders are likely to fall by the wayside.

While the so-called War on Terror continues, Bali and Indonesia as a whole will remain adversely affected in the minds of overseas visitors, especially those from the West. But with the domestic consumer economy chugging along nicely, the potential to encourage internal and regional travellers remains a viable prospect for airlines and hotels alike.

-- The writer can be reached at Debnath.Guharoy@roymorgan.com

Contract for US-funded Banda Aceh-Calang road to be signed in May

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - The contract for the construction of Banda Aceh-Calang road section which is to be financed by the United States is expected to be signed next month, a regional government official said here on Saturday.

"The contract for the construction of the road is expected to be signed by the government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in May," Assistant II to the Aceh Regional Government Secretary, Usman Budiman, said when opening a workshop on the Aceh Recovery Forum.

He said that the land clearance was now in progress and was expected to be completed late this month or early in May.

The United States government through the USAID will rebuild the 150-km long Banda Aceh-Calang (Aceh Jaya district) road which was damaged by the tsunami which hit the province in December 2004.

Head of the Nias-Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said 54 percent of the land clearance had been finished.

"We are still facing a problem with the land clearance in Aceh Besar district, while in Aceh Jaya, the land clearance is almost finished," he added.

He said that the United States for International Development had repeatedly asked about the land clearance problem.