[sustran] Re: Indonesia's traffic nightmare

[Carlosfelipe Pardo]

Hi,

Just a short comment on this issue of the sign that disabled people 
should wear: this just seems like Hawthorne's book The Scarlett Letter 
(and we could find more recent and true examples of similar 
situations...) Is there a way for an Indonesian organization to make 
this law un-enforceable because it violates human rights? I find it 
extremely discriminatory and excluding. Why don't they use a hot iron to 
put a sign on car-drivers' foreheads as well? It sounds just as 
logical... At least the press gave some space to Tyas and others to give 
their views...

Best regards,

Carlos.

Sudhir wrote:
> *"lawmakers voted unanimously this month to demand disabled people 
> wear signs announcing their condition so motorists won't run them down 
> as they cross the street.*"
>
> http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_396512.html
>
>  JAKARTA - NEW laws requiring disabled pedestrians to wear traffic 
> signs have met with frustration and derision in Indonesia, where in 
> the eyes of the law cars have taken priority over people.
>
> The laws will do nothing to improve road safety or ease the traffic 
> that is choking the life out of the capital city of some 12 million 
> people, and serve only to highlight official incompetence, analysts said.
>
> Within five years, if nothing changes, experts predict Jakarta will 
> reach total gridlock, with every main road and backstreet clogged with 
> barely moving, pollution-spewing cars.
>
> That's too late for the long-awaited urban rail link known as the Mass 
> Rapid Transit (MRT), which has only just entered the design stage and 
> won't be operational until 2016 at the earliest.
>
> 'Just like a big flood, Jakarta could be paralysed. The city's 
> mobility will die,' University of Indonesia researcher Nyoman Teguh 
> Prasidha said.
>
> Instead of requiring level footpaths and ramps, l/awmakers voted 
> unanimously this month to demand disabled people wear signs announcing 
> their condition so motorists won't run them down as they cross the street.
> /
> Experts say the new traffic law is sadly typical of a country which 
> for decades has allowed cars and an obsession with car ownership to 
> run rampant over basic imperatives of urban planning.
>
> 'It is strange when handicapped people are asked to carry extra 
> burdens and obligations,' Institute of Transportation Studies 
> (Instran) chairman Darmaningtyas said.
>
> 'The law is a triumph for the automotive industry. It's completely 
> useless for alleviating the traffic problem.' The number of motor 
> vehicles including motorcycles in greater Jakarta has almost tripled 
> in the past eight years to 9.52 million. Meanwhile road space has 
> grown less than one percent annually since 2004, according to the 
> Indonesian Transport Society.
>
> 'Traffic congestion is like cancer,' Institute for Transportation and 
> Development Policy specialist Harya Setyaka said. 'This cancer has 
> developed over 30 years as Jakarta begins to develop haphazardly 
> beyond its carrying capacity.' A 2004 study by the Japan International 
> Cooperation Agency found that traffic jams cost Jakarta some 8.3 
> trillion rupiah (822 million dollars) a year in extra fuel 
> consumption, lost productivity and health impact. -- AFP
>
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> -- 
> Sudhir Gota
> Transport Specialist
> CAI-Asia Center
> Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower,
> ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
> Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
> Tel: +63-2-395-2843
> Fax: +63-2-395-2846
> http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia
> Skype : sudhirgota
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