NEW GOVERNOR CHALLENGED TO UNRAVEL JAKARTA TRAFFIC WOES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 31 (ANTARA) – Traffic congestion in the country’s capital city is a chronic problem, besides annual floods, which is posing a grave challenge to new Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi). “We have to build a culture of traffic discipline, improve transportation means and increase strength of police staff to support efforts to overcome traffic woes in Jakarta,” Jokowi said at the Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday. With a population of about 12 million, Jakarta experiences massive traffic jams every day. Poor public transportation causes residents to use their private cars or motorcycles and according to the Jakarta Regional Police, there are about 3.1 million private cars and 8.2 motorcycles in the city.