Jakarta - Bali Agreed on Public Service Development Cooperation

The Jakarta Provincial Government and Bali Provincial Government, signed a joint agreement on regional potential development and improvement of public services at Pattern Room, City Hall, Jakarta, Monday (7/10).

In the past, we started from the year of Mr. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and continued to this day

Jakarta Acting Governor, Heru Budi Hartono expressed his party agreed to provide assistance and share experiences regarding the construction of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) or train-based mass vehicles.

"In the past, we started from the year of Mr. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and continued to this day. Perhaps, the atmosphere is different from Bali, I think Mr. Wayan as Bali Governor is one rhythm maybe and there is already an example of Jakarta," he expressed while being accompanied by Bali Governor.

Heru and Budi Karya Inspect LRT Jabodebek at Dukuh Atas Station

According to him, the MRT construction was initially full of polemics and rejection.

"Now, I think it's easier. There are examples of Light Rapid Transit (LRT) in the central government, there are examples of MRT, later please which concept is most suitable in Bali," he stated.

He also left it up to Bali Government to choose which mode of transportation suits Bali's physical conditions on the ground. Another thing the Acting Governor said was related to ticket prices charged to users.

"Maybe you can determine the ticket price more easily compared to Jakarta Government. Because the Jakarta Government is providing public services. But in Bali, it also provides public services to tourists. So, the tickets can be more in line with the reality on the ground, how much are they worth?," he continued.

"For us, it's Rp 14,000 for 16 kilometers. So, we provide subsidies are still far from reality. Hopefully, you can make cross subsidies, for instance, how much do tourists pay and how much do local residents pay?," he added.

In the meeting, Bali Governor also explained the problems currently faced by Bali related to public transportation. Hence, the Bali Government needs experience that has been running in Jakarta so far to be applied with adjustments in Bali.

"Bali's economy is recovering now and it seems that this attraction is increasing. One of the problems is traffic jams, especially in Badung and Denpasar. That's why, we started thinking about public transportation, one of which we are currently developing is the development of rail-based transportation," he explained.

City Secretary, Agus Setyono outlined the scope of cooperation that will be followed up, including the development and promotion of culture, tourism and creative economy, implementation of food security, capacity building of human resources, development of regionally owned enterprises, and development of public transportation.

"Hopefully, the partnership between Jakarta and Bali can provide positive expectations and encourage the performance of regional apparatuses in carrying out their duties in order to achieve a common goal, namely development welfare, as well as equitable and quality public services," he uttered.

After signing the cooperation agreement, it was hoped that more intensive communication could be carried out between related parties in a bid to formulate cooperation activation, thus the impact could be felt in a real way.

"Hopefully, the performance of governance and development will improve, as well as services to the community in each region, especially in the field of connected, integrated and sustainable transportation development, and also cover other related scopes," he hoped.