"Next year we will prioritize procurement of 4,000 units of bus including 3,000 units of middle sized city bus and 1,000 large buses of Transjakarta," Joko Widodo said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi said the city administration gives priority to procurement of 4,000 buses to serve as means of mass transport to reduce congestion in the city`s streets.

"Next year we will prioritize procurement of 4,000 units of bus including 3,000 units of middle sized city bus and 1,000 large buses of Transjakarta," Joko Widodo said at the City Hall on Friday.

Apart from bus procurement, the city will also prioritize development of 200 blocks of low cost apartments.

The low cost apartment project, however, has yet to be approved by the city council, Jokowi said.

In almost a year as governor of the capital city, Jokowi said he was not satisfied with the progress made so far in resolving the problems in Jakarta.

Jakarta has a host of problems , he said, adding as for how far the progress has been made let the people themselves evaluate .

He said there are a number of factors that serve to hamper efforts to cope with the problems such as the launch of low cost cars.

"That, however, is a minor problem," he said referring to the traffic jams caused by the low cost cars

He has expressed opposition to the central government program of what is called low cost green cars (LCGC).

He said launching the program would add to the inconvenience caused by traffic jams, which have become a daily scene in the city`s streets.

Congestion in Jakarta streets is among the worst problems to be sorted out by the city administration.

He refused to continue polemics over LCGC, saying "what is important is to find a solution."

He said work has started on the MRT (mass rapid transit) project which is expected to reduce congestion in the city streets.

Construction of the long awaited mega project kicked off on Thursday marked with a groundbreaking ceremony after decades of delay.

"For 24 years, residents of Jakarta have been dreaming of traveling in an MRT. During the 24-years, perhaps, some had lost hope that the dream would ever come to reality. Now thank God we hope the project could be completed in 2018," he said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

He said once the MRT project is completed, the Electronic Road Pricing system would be set up in all corridors to encourage people to use mass transport systems.

He said the regulation would be imposed alternating cars with odd and even plate numbers allowed to operate in the city to ease street congestion in the city.

Higher parking fees would be imposed to discourage travelers from using private cars, he added.

The first phase of the MRT project would be between Lebak Bulus and Hotel Indonesia roundabout, including a 9.8-kilometer-long elevated road and a 5.9-kilometer subway.

When asked about his programs already running the populist governor cited Jakarta Healthcare, Jakarta Smart card and Online tax.

Reform in the city bureaucracy, however, is still in the process, he added. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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