Have We Learnt the Lessons?

The recent fire incident that damaged the Musi Bridge in Palembang reminds us of the similar unpleasant event happened under the fly-over toll road in North Jakarta a couple years ago. These grotesque fire incidents indicate that we are indifferent, reckless and careless when it related to the public properties. This grim attitude is not only limited to the character of the local people or the respective institutions concerned but to our society and nation as a whole. 

It seems that we are quite capable to construct nice toll roads, immense bridges, and other important infrastructures but we don’t know how to maintain them. In August 2007 the fire burnt down the “Jembatan Tiga” fly-over toll road in North Jakarta caused initially by a fire sparked from one of the shelters beneath. The incident seriously weakened the steel structure of the concrete blocks and damaged heavily the toll road, jammed the traffic in North Jakarta for months.

The problems arose when in 2002 the Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure (MoSRI) gave permits to the poor to live under the toll roads through the “memorable” decree No. 214/KPTS/M/2002. As everybody had foreseen, the area under the fly-over toll road soon became slum areas. 

Under such Ministry decree, the occupants obviously considered themselves as having the full right in doing their household and daily activities whatever it was, cooking including. As the condition under the toll road getting worse and uncontrollable, the permit was finally annulled by the Minister of Public Works at the end of 2006.

But as we all know, once one allows and tolerates illegal shelters to be built and grown in a certain area, it is hard and almost impossible to evict them to other settlements, not to mention those having the permit, even with some compensation. And, then, suddenly they became illegal occupants as the permit was annulled. The burden was shifted to the city government which should, then, handled properly and carefully all those messy.

The fund spent on the renovation of the toll road was more than Rp40 billion. A big question remains unanswered. How come that such permission is given without due considerations on the aspect of damaging risk that might be caused by the occupants of the shelters? How come that such vital and expensive toll road was allowed to be used simply as a collective roof for the slum shelters? The decree No. 214/KPTS/M/2002 of the MoSRI issued in 2002 was, indeed, the biggest blunder ever made by a government institution. 

The situation became worst when the occupants did not have any guilty feeling whatsoever and protested the plan to remove them from the area under the fly-over toll road and held a demo under the coordination of  “Urban Poor Consortium” NGO, and wanted to rebuild their burnt houses. The occupants simply rejected the offer when the city government planned to remove them to another place even with compensation.

This problem emerged again and again because we are too indifferent and careless. we are used to looking to the problem of the poverty upside down. We wanted to give compensations or resettle them in modest apartments rather than giving those facilities to the more disciplined good poor people who were in the same deprived conditions but more observant to the laws and orders. 

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And now there again happens the fire incident damaging the Musi Bridge in Palembang on 10 October 2010. The fire razed the traditional market which is allowed to settle under the bridge causing serious damage to the bridge. The  Musi bridge is not only a vital and expensive infrastructure but also a prestigious monumental icon of the region. It is also monumental as it was the first longest bridge ever constructed in the country integrating the road networks in Sumatra. 

We hope that the bridge's supporting steel was not heavily damaged which might cause such a beautiful bridge collapse. Were these reckless, careless and indifferent attitudes towards the safety and security of the public properties really our national character? 

Have we learned the lessons?

The Slum Areas and the Image of the Railway State Company

When you have a chance traveling by train, just after leaving the Kota (City) or Senen stations, you will see slums at the sides of the railway's tracks.  The efforts to cope with the slums in Jakarta has by far given no result, especially when facing the slums within the areas of  PT. Kereta Api Indonesia, the railway state-owned company.

The slums certainly degenerate the city living condition. The occupants construct illegally simple houses made of woods or sometimes plastic materials, without sanitation and no legal electricity. They can stay there persistently because of the indifference and careless of the station authority for allowing such slums and in some degree the electricity officials for the continuous supply of illegal electric power. This situation can no longer be tolerated, especially when it involves the "collaboration" between the slum occupants and the company's security officers. 

The occupants mostly come from outside Jakarta,  the people who are seeking for opportunities to earn money as sidewalk traders and such kinds or collecting waste articles. Most occupants are illegal residents who don’t have any city identity cards. Some of them live almost permanently and some others are seasonally such as farm-laborers who come to Jakarta only temporarily after rice cultivation and stay there until the harvesting time. 

Many efforts to remove the slum shelters from the public area have been launched several times but without result. The occupants always come back within a couple days after the eviction and rebuild their shelters without facing any difficulty.  

The banning of the slums in Jakarta and especially along the railway tracks is urgently needed. It is not the question of the social problem of poverty that the government tolerates such indecent and irresponsible way of living. There are many poor who do not want to live in such a condition because of their honor and dignity. It is more on the question of willingness and determination of the related parties’ concern to solve the problem once for all.

According to the official estimation, it requires at least two years to complete the program relocating people living along the railway tracks. To carry out the program, the central government has allocated the fund around Rp 2 trillion in the period of 2010 to 2012. The fund will be spent for the construction of rail fences, tree planting along the railway tracks and relocating the illegal occupants of the area.

The government should have the political will and strong determination to clear the slum areas with comprehensive planning and target. The same attitude should be also adopted by the management of PT. Kereta Api Indonesia. The management should put stress more on the tidiness of the area surrounding the station and railway tracks, on safety and the safeguard of the state properties. 

The management must demonstrate their attitude towards the safety by strongly forbidding the passengers to ride on the roof of the train coach which is by any standard cannot be tolerated any longer. The train drivers who have high responsibility on bringing such valuable assets and the safety of so many passengers should be paid more attention to their remuneration and welfare albeit their category as blue-collar workers. Many accidents happen in the form of trains collisions and the recent Rangkasbitung incident on October 11, 2010, where so many train coaches burnt heavily indicate that something wrong happens within  PT. Kereta Api management.