Weak supervision of Jakarta Transportation Department has made Tanah Abang area, Central Jakarta, chaotic again. The control against street vendors and illegal parking, which carried out aggressively before, seems to be futile because these two problems are happening again. It can be seen from the trucks carrying goods parked on roadsides and the street vendors hawking their wares on sidewalks which eventually lead to severe traffic congestion around the largest wholesale center in South East Asia.

Seven personnel are deployed to patrol and execute on location

Based on beritajakarta.com observations, traffic congestion starts from Blok A exit until Blok G in front of Tanah Abang Station. Such short distance can take up to 60 minutes, especially because there are no Central Jakarta Transportation Sub-Department officers regulating the traffic in that location.

However, Head of Central Jakarta Transportation Sub-Department, Syamsuddin, claimed to have deployed 28 personnel to Tanah Abang area. The 28 personnel are divided into two shifts with 14 personnel per day. “ Seven personnel are deployed to patrol and execute on location ,” he stated, Tuesday (5/6).

According to Syamsuddin, the congestion in Tanah Abang area happened because there is no coordination between Satpol PP and the police. That is why the street vendors and illegal parking rampant again there. “We have tried to regulate the traffic to avoid stagnation of vehicles,” he said.

Besides rampant presence of street vendors and illegal parking, Syamsuddin assessed that traffic congestion in Tanah Abang is also caused by the existence of houses being turned into expedition offices. As a result, there are many expedition trucks come in and out Tanah Abang area disorderly. “We will coordinate with Central Jakarta Building Control Sub-Department to check every expedition building, whether they have a permit or not,” he told.

Another thing contributes to severe traffic congestion in Tanah Abang area is the fact there are many illegal parking lots run by thugs that cannot be disciplined by Central Jakarta Transportation Sub-Department. Syamsuddin reasoned that thuggery is police’s authority to handle. “A few days ago, there was a thug secured by local police. But yesterday he was already released,” he disclosed.