Jakarta is famous for its traffic jams. People are
accustomed to cars and motorcycles packing on Jakarta streets. The number of
cars and motorcycles are increasing significantly but very little new roads are
built. To cope with this grave situation, Jakarta City Government built flyovers
in several places especially above the roads crossing the peripheral railway
track to curb the possible accidents colliding with the train.
One of them is Permata Hijau flyover built crossing
the railway Tanah Abang-Rangkasbitung completed in the first week of January 2016.
Its length measured 533 meters and 12-meter height with a construction cost of Rp131
billion.
Prior to the construction of the flyover, the road
connecting Permata Hijau and Senayan is always packed with cars and motorcycles
in the morning and afternoon especially at the spot where the road crosses over
the railway tracks causing people to be late to go to offices or be back home in the afternoon.
The contractor was able to complete such a huge task successfully especially when they had to set the construction during the rainy season. Believe it or not, although we live in the modern era, a rumor circulated that while constructing the flyover the contractor hired 12 metaphysicists from Kalimantan, Central Java, and Banten to prevent the rain from falling down at the constructional area, thus, preserve the quality of wet cement from degrading.
Though it is contrary to the logic, some people still
use the service of metaphysicists to prevent rain in a wedding or cultural ceremony
and performance but it looks funny when applied for civil construction work
such Permata Hijau Flyover.
Notwithstanding just few hundred meters from the flyover,
there is a small pathway crossing the railway that some people still drive their
cars and motorcycles across causing the danger of collision with the train
remains. There are some free-lance boys (popularly called Pak Ogah) who guard
the railway-crossing, but they work occasionally.
It seems that the purpose of Permata Hijau flyover construction which costs hundreds of billions of rupiah is in vain. The public discipline should be strongly held. The attitude of the government towards the people’s indiscipline is too weak especially to those considered as marginal such those who occupy the railway track or river banks.
We are waiting for firm action from the local
authority. We can no longer tolerate people who don’t mind with the government
effort to manage the traffic spending billon of rupiah. On behalf of
orderliness, people should be ready to just take a little tour using the new imposing
flyover built to make life better.
