Busway users have their say

Adisti Sukma Sawitri and Ikram Putra
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

While motorists point their fingers at the busway as the major cause of traffic jams, passengers still find the administration-sponsored mode of transportation their long-awaited savior.

During a discussion on the busway service, a group of its regular passengers and supporters from mailing list suaratransjakarta@yahoogroups.com said the mounting public protests had undermined the buses' main role as the best mass transportation mode in the city.

David Tjahjana, a regular passenger of Pulo Gadung-Dukuh Atas corridor, said he still found the service the most reliable form of transportation from his house in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, to his office in Central Jakarta.

"The administration only focuses on network expansion without paying attention to the service. This has made everything worse," he said.

David, who leaves his car at home to use the busway, said people should allow room for improvement for the Transjakarta operator before jumping to the conclusion the busway system was not suitable for the city.

Another mailing list member, Lita, said although she is a regular passenger of Blok M-Kota corridor, she still had to use the regular bus to get to her office in Tomang, West Jakarta, since the designated busway lane that passed the area, Harmoni-Kalideres corridor, was always crowded.

"Please add more buses in the corridor and build more corridors so I could become a true busway passenger," she said.

Lita, who lives in Cinere, South Jakarta, said she takes a regular bus to Blok M terminal, as there are no busway feeder buses near her house.

Suaratransjakarta currently has 817 members.

The busway network expansion has stripped road lanes on major thoroughfares and caused more traffic jams. Meanwhile, busway operator Transjakarta seems to have neglected its service.

Passengers are required to wait almost half an hour in a crowded shelter just to get on an overcrowded bus.

In light of mounting protests, the administration has allowed regular motorists to use the busway's exclusive lanes in 55 locations during rush hours as of last week.

Poor monitoring and coordination between police officers and the Transportation Agency, however, has seen regular motorists use the lanes in other locations and outside of peak hours.

Transjakarta infrastructure manager, Taufik Adiwianto, said regular motorists using the exclusive busway lanes and congestion at several traffic intersections were the two main causes of long waiting times (headway) in the busway shelters.

"Regular motorists were using the exclusive lanes long before the policy came into effect ... this is what saw us struggle to maintain an ideal headway (of less than 5 minutes)," he said.

Reuni Gading

Alkisah (haha, kesannya zaman dahulu kala sekali) ada satu band bernama Gading. Anggotanya empat orang: Agus, Baba, Ricky, dan Ayu. Yang terakhir keluar, diganti dengan Idoeng.

Suatu hari mereka memutuskan menambah satu anggota lagi, yang namanya tak usah disebutkan karena sudah bisa ditebak.

Gading ini sebenarnya terhitung band kecil. Meski sudah punya 6-7 lagu, mereka belum meluncurkan album (paling-paling hanya album demo untuk produser). Studio sendiri pun tak punya. Jadi kalau latihan mesti pergi ke studio sewaan, lalu bayar sendiri-sendiri.

Tapi ada beberapa hal yang membuat band ini layak dikelompokkan sebagai band besar. Anggotanya ada yang terlalu mengatur (mirip siapa coba?) sehingga tak jarang berantem dengan anggota lain. Mereka juga pernah diwawancarai satu stasiun radio di Sarinah. Pernah juga menjadi band pembuka Naif di Monas haha. Kemudian, kalau latihan selalu bawa perlengkapan sendiri.

Dan di atas itu semua, yang paling membikin Gading nampak seperti band besar adalah, mereka bubar jalan dong :)

Rabu (14/11) kemarin mereka berkumpul lagi dan pergi ke salah satu studio musik di Jalan Margonda. Hitung-hitung reuni meski cuma empat orang – tak apalah.

Main lagu sembarang saja, yang penting nyanyi dan ketawa-ketawa. Satu anggota yang tidak hafal kord lagu terpaksa beralih fungsi jadi fotografer lepas. Dan, model foto lepas. Salahnya sendiri. Siapa suruh tidak hafal kord gara-gara kebanyakan pegang notebook?

Senang banget lah bisa main musik lagi, menghilangkan penat sejenak. Memangnya cuma Andre saja yang bisa? Hehehe.



Agus, Baba, dan Ricky. Kapan-kapan lagi ya!

Students expelled for bullying

JAKARTA: Five students from SMUN 34 in South Jakarta have been expelled from school for allegedly bullying a younger student.

The head of Jakarta's Middle and Higher Education Agency, Margani M. Mustar, said Wednesday the students were expelled for, "violating school rules".

First year student Muhammad Fadhil Harkaputra Sirath told police on Nov. 8 he had been beaten by senior students who were members of a gang called Gazper.

School representatives said the gang had existed for 11 years and applied "special treatment" to newcomers in an effort to make them join their ranks.

As the beating took place in Depok, the case is being handled by Depok Police, who named the five students as suspects Monday.

"I've instructed police officers to protect the suspects' rights," Sr. Comr. Imam Pramukarno said.

Lawyer for the expelled students Djonggi Simorangkir said their dismissal was unfair.

"How about the principle of presumption of innocence? No one is guilty until the court says so," he said. – JP

Selamat, Koran Tempo

Entah sejak kapan Koran Tempo memulai perubahan ini. Dari yang sebelumnya menulis Banjir Kanal Timur, sekarang Kanal Banjir Timur. Sungguh senang, sebab akhirnya kekeliruan itu ada yang menyadari dan ada tindak lanjut.

Mereka sudah selangkah di depan koran-koran lain yang masih salah kaprah.

Tak heran jika Koran Tempo meraih penghargaan sebagai koran dengan penggunaan bahasa terbaik tahun ini. Selamat ya!

Dewan Pers Bagi-bagi Amplop

Rabu (7/11) siang di Hotel Bumi Wiyata Depok ada diskusi yang diadakan Dewan Pers. Topiknya soal penegakan profesionalisme pers. Antara lain, bagaimana cara menghadapi wartawan bodrex yang suka meminta-minta amplop. Pesertanya dari pemerintahan, polisi, dan juga wartawan (wartawan bodrex-nya sendiri konon juga ada yang datang).



Sialnya, saya datang terlambat karena sedang liputan pelantikan panitia pemilu di Balai Kota. Begitu sampai di ruangan, foto-foto sedikit, bikin kopi segelas, eh acaranya selesai – peserta dipersilakan makan siang!

Untungnya ada Yudho (Tempo News Room) dan Arman (Indo Pos) yang lagi mewawancarai Sabam Leo Batubara, wakil ketua Dewan. Saya langsung ikut nimbrung mereka saja. Biarlah sedikit yang penting dapat ilmu.

Sabam mengatakan, kita harus memberantas perilaku memeras yang sering dilakukan wartawan bodrex antara lain supaya “wartawan yang kerjanya benar” jadi terlindungi.

“We have to promote the good guys,” katanya bersemangat.

Dia lalu berlanjut dengan menceritakan dinas-dinas pemerintahan mana saja yang biasanya jadi “sasaran” para wartawan korps bodrex. Misalnya Dinas Pendidikan serta Dinas Pekerjaan Umum. Mungkin karena dua dinas ini memang punya banyak salah atau bagaimana, mereka gampang sekali diperas :)

Kemudian dia juga menyinggung soal organisasi wartawan yang begitu banyak jumlahnya namun tak semuanya beres.

Saya manggut-manggut dengan tenang sebab tidak sedang liputan. Perkara wartawan bodrex memang sudah jadi masalah menahun di Indonesia. Mereka ini tak punya suratkabar (WTS = Wartawan Tanpa Suratkabar) dan kalaupun punya, biasanya dari jenis yang membuat kita bertanya-tanya “apa ada ya?”.

Akhirnya Yudho dan Arman selesai wawancara. Kami pun bergegas menuju ruang makan. Tapi sebelumnya mereka harus menyerahkan tanda peserta dulu di meja pendaftaran. Saya jalan terus di depan.

“Apa ini? Wah, nggak Mas. Nggak!”

Saya menoleh dan melihat keduanya sedang mengibas-ngibaskan tangan. Rupanya, mereka disodorkan amplop *yang isinya pasti uang bukan petasan.

Dewan Pers membagi-bagikan amplop?

Itulah yang jadi keheranan kami bertiga. Isi diskusi tentang pemberantasan pemerasan oleh wartawan, tapi kenapa di ujung acara wartawan malah diberi amplop? Bukankah jadi ironis?

Orang Dewan Pers beralasan, amplop dibagikan sebagai penghargaan kepada para undangan yang telah bersedia meluangkan waktunya untuk diskusi ini. Supaya peserta dari kalangan pemerintah dan kepolisian, misalnya, jadi tidak terbebani. Dan wartawan pun, karena dianggap tidak sedang liputan, sah-sah saja terima amplop.

Tapi bukankah semua peserta sudah dapat gaji masing-masing tiap bulan? Jadi buat apa lagi diberi amplop?

Apalagi wartawan. Bodrex atau bukan, sedang liputan atau tidak, kami ini jangan dibiasakan terima amplop deh Pak!

------
Berita diskusi di Tempointeraktif yang ditulis Yudho.

Clogged sluice gates almost impossible to fix, say officials

Mustaqim Adamrah and Ikram Putra
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Officials have said they are powerless to do anything about the trash that constantly clogs the sluice gate in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

Extra staff have been put on to man the gate, which is crucial to warding off flooding in the city.

An operator at the Manggarai sluice gate, Parjono, said Tuesday that while there had previously only been one staff member managing the gate, there were now three staff on at any time.

"We don't dare to have less than that these days," he said.

The Manggarai sluice gate can contain water up to a depth of 9.5 meters, the deepest in the city and almost a meter above sea level. But on Monday it was clogged with garbage carried along the Ciliwung River.

Trash that blocked sluice gates is regarded as one of the prime causes of the massive floods that paralyzed Jakarta early this year, killing 48 people and causing up to Rp 12 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in damages.

Parjono said the water level at the Manggarai gate had already risen since the start of the rainy season.

He said the river was too small to contain the water flow, and this combined with a lack of proper drainage and the tendency of the city's residents to dump garbage in the water caused flooding in the capital.

"With the way things are going right now though, I don't think we'll ever be flood-free," he said.

The city administration has also blamed flooding on residents who dump garbage in the rivers and live on the banks.

The head of the water resources and beach development division at the Jakarta Public Works Agency, I Gde Nyoman Soeandhi, said the city would have less flooding "if only no more people litter and throw garbage into rivers, as well as living on riverbanks".

He said those living on riverbanks were occupying land that was meant to be a water catchment area.

There are 5,911 hectares of green space, out of 66,126 hectares in Jakarta's total area.

Nyoman said the administration "is working hard and using all resources it has and also has set aside Rp 270 billion this year to mitigate floods".

The money is being used to reshape riverbanks that have had shelters built on them and dredging rivers, as well as procuring new and repairing broken water pumps at a number of pump stations.

However, the director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's Jakarta chapter, Slamet Daroyni, said the administration was also responsible for having allowed businesses to build in green spaces, although he added that riverbank squatters were also to blame.

"Now, Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex in North Jakarta used to be (the protected Muara Angke) mangrove forest in addition to a living environment, which has become Cibubur Junction in East Jakarta," he said.

"It's ironic. Even now there's an ongoing apartment construction in South Jakarta on one side of Krukut River. The river's width, which used to be 14 meters, has now become only four meters, thanks to the apartment's construction."

Meanwhile, the Depok city administration has said residents should not rely on them too much during the coming flood season due to some limitations facing the administration.

Welman Naipospos, head of the water recourses division at Depok Public Works Agency, said the public must take an active role to prevent flooding.

"I sent letters to every district and subdistrict to ask people to clean up drainage ways around neighborhood," Welman said, adding that poorly maintained drainage was the main cause of floods in Depok.

Located 70 meters above sea level, Depok is home to the last gate of the Ciliwung River before it enters Jakarta.