THOROUGH STUDY ON PEDICAB OPERATION NEEDED

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 30 (Antara) - After decades of being banned from operating in the capital city of Jakarta, pedicabs, locally called 'becak,' a popular transportation means in the past, is coming back to serve Jakarta residents in labyrinthine areas.          Pedicabs had been banned from operating in Jakarta since April 1990 based on Jakarta Regional Government Regulation N0.11/1988. However, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan will revive the operation of the tricycle becak.          The regional government of Jakarta is of the view that Jakarta residents still need pedicabs and hence, it would legalize the trishaw operation in residential areas or certain routes.          Yet, legislator Ahmad Sahroni of the NasDem Party faction in the House stated that the plan to legalize the operation of becak needs further studies. "The issue is that it will not only cause traffic jams on the streets but also result in the narrowing down of roads due to pedicabs being parked on roadsides," Sahroni noted in Jakarta on Monday last week (Jan 22).          Moreover, he added that it would be very difficult to monitor the use of pedicabs that are specially operated in residential areas. He called on Baswedan to avoid merely following the political contract that he had made during his gubernatorial campaign and to conduct a long study before thinking of legalizing pedicabs in the capital city.