Entering seventh day of Ramadan, traffic in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, becomes increasingly chaotic. People are crowding the area to shop Muslim clothes until dates in Blok A, Blok B, Blok G, and Blok F markets, as well as in Metro Market, Thamrin City shopping centre, until street vendors’ stalls. Although Jakarta Transportation Department has tried to resolve the chaotic traffic, by raiding illegal parking and public transports parking haphazardly, the result is yet optimal.

Traffic problems in Tanah Abang are complex and complicated, because they are combined with other problems

Head of Jakarta Transportation Department, M Akbar, admitted that his department is overwhelmed in resolving traffic congestion in Tanah Abang due to complex and complicated roots of problems. Moreover, vehicles volume there is skyrocketing during Ramadan, including loading and unloading activities of expedition vehicles.

“Traffic problems in Tanah Abang are complex and complicated, because they are combined with other problems. Although we have conducted tire valves removal operation often, the effect is not fully making public transport and ojek drivers, who often park haphazardly on roadsides, wary,” he stated, Saturday (7/5).

Based on beritajakarta.com observations, Tanah Abang is crowded with pedestrians, who are having trouble to find a way in and out between private vehicles, public transports like bus, Mikrolet, and Metromini, ojek (motorcycle-taxi), and trolleys transporting groceries, which are all become one with klaxon sounds coming from cars and motorcycles.

Yayat Supriyatna, an urban observer, acknowledged that traffic problems in Tanah Abang are indeed already very complex and complicated. But, he assessed that such a thing would not happen if related unit conducted prevention efforts.

“Jakarta Transportation Department should have made traffic engineering in that area before fasting month, so Tanah Abang could be more well-managed,” he said.

Since there is no anticipation, Supriyatna continued, the problems become increasingly complicated. As a result, related unit cannot do anything more in the field. Whereas, they could have done prevention by sterilizing Tanah Abang from private vehicles by making park and ride facility five kilometers from the area.

“With that way, traffic in Tanah Abang would not be as severe as this even though there are TransJakarta buses integrated with Border Transportation (APTB),” he uttered.