Jakarta, April 26 (Antara) - Indonesia, a country of over 240 million
people with over 17 thousand islands, needs to improve its land
transportation system to ensure a dynamic flow of passengers and goods
in the country.
The dynamic demographic growth, rapid urbanization, regional gaps and
rising energy consumption are factors that pose challenges on one side
but also offer opportunities on the other.
This complexity, however, has caused a large gap between the available
means of transportation and increasing movement of passengers and goods.
The Ministry of Transportation noted that the gap between capacity and
load movement was mainly to be attributed to increasing economic growth
and rising purchasing power of the people.
On the one hand, the situation will lead to complexity when it comes to
ensuring availability of transportation for vast sections of
population, but on the other, it will also open up new investment
opportunities, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan said.
"So, this will necessitate the development of a transportation system
that can be integrated with the economy, especially on Java Island,"
Minister EE Moiangindaan said in press statement on Tuesday.
Moreover, Java Island is a paradox by itself since it only accounts for
seven percent of the country's land area, but is the most densely
inhabited with 55 percent of the country's population.
Excessive loads are seen in certain sections of various Indonesian
regions, underlining that alternative means of transport should be used
to reduce this heavy load factor.
Deputy Minister of Transportation Bambang Susantono said 93 percent of
goods were being transported via the nation's roads, placing too much
burden on road surfaces and causing damage to some main roads, as is
clear from the state of Java's Pantura northern coastal highway.
In the next five year plan, the government will manage the
transportation load by redirecting some freight movement to the railway
network.
Further, the opening of the 727 km double-track railway connecting
Jakarta with Surabaya is expected to reduce the transportation load, the
deputy minister said.
The railway network is currently optimal in Java and Sumatra Islands.
However, in the next five years, the government also plans to develop
railway connections in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and even Papua, provided
government revenues allow for infrastructure development.
Moreover, the government will manage the distribution of goods by ship
by promoting some coastal districts, such as Jakarta, Cirebon, Semarang
and Surabaya as gateways.
"All of these measures are aimed at reducing the road load.... We will
integrate certain sectors of transportation that will make it easier for
the public," the deputy minister said.
According
to Minister EE Mangindaan, the government has also worked out a
2015-2019 transportation master plan but companies in the transportation
sector should be sensitive to public criticism and improve their
services to satisfy end users.
"Sensitization in the transportation service is needed so that
officials are more open to criticism and incorporating inputs from the
public for in order to improve services," the minister said.
After
all, the transportation sector continues to feature more complexity due
to increase in the public demand. Thus, all policies that are
formulated should result in development of a reliable, clean and
efficient transportation system.
"It should be our endeavor to focus on the importance of the safety
aspect, both in terms of means of transportation and human resources, as
well as its operational aspect," the minister said.
Director for Transportation Facility Development of the Ministry of
Transportation Djoko Saksono said besides the transportation system in
large cities such as in Jakarta, the transportation facilities in the
region must also receive attention.
He said that the commitment of regional governments to improve the
transportation sector was not yet adequate. "They lack the commitment
because they also lack awareness of the condition of the transportation
sector in their respective regions," Saksono said.
The regional governments could refer to the national master plan for
the development of the transportation sector in the region.
The ministry of transportation is working on the 2015-2019 strategic
plan, which will serve as a reference for national development in the
transportation sector for the upcoming new government.
It is expected that the new government will be formed in October this
year after the legislative elections held on April 9 and the upcoming
July 9 presidential race.
The
2015-2019 strategic plan will comprise four policies: the development
of the national connectivity program, the development of national
transportation industry, the internalization and integration of
inter-sectoral strategic issues, and revitalization of the urban
transportation sector.
As for the traffic jams in large cities in the country, the government
has begun putting in place an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)
which is capable of overcoming different transportation problems such as
traffic jams.
According to Minister Mangindaan, several applications of the ITS have
already been in use such as devices guiding directions and identifying
traffic jams, position of transportation vehicles, and traffic control
instruments.
"The ITS application is expected to provide an integrated real time
service and meet the expectations of the transportation service users,"
said E.E.Mangindaan.
He said that the average speed of traffic flow in big cities nowadays
was less than 20 km per hour while the number of public transportation
facilities in a number of big cities in the country was still small.
The construction of various modes of mass transportation such as Mass
Rapid Transit (MRT) system is actually something that commuters in
Jakarta dream of because of the traffic woes caused by the influx of
private car users.
"The
people are waiting for the MRT system because they are tired of
gridlocks," said Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) secretary
general, Ellen Sophie Wulan Tangkudung, here recently.
Jakarta
is one of the cities with the worst traffic jams in the world and has
launched several programs to overcome its traffic woes.
The
problem persists despite the Jakarta regional government launching a
three-in-one policy in 1994, a car-free day measure in 2002, and a
busway system in 2004.
Recent
programs included the construction of a monorail transportation system
and a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. However, the work on these
programs is still on-going. The regional government expects that by the
year 2030, Jakarta will be able to completely overcome its daily traffic
jam problems.***3***
(T.A014/INE/H-YH)
Edited by INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 26-04-2014 1 |
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