West Java Will Participate In Budgeting Transjabodetabek Subsidy? Dedi Mulyadi: Judging By The Urgency

West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi/PHOTO: Diah Ayu-VOI

West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi opened his voice about the opportunity for the West Java Provincial Government to participate in allocating the Transjabodetabek subsidy budget which is now operating from Jakarta to several buffer areas such as Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi.

Dedi has not yet decided whether to help the DKI Provincial Government in financing transportation subsidies. Dedi admitted that he wanted to see how high the needs of West Java residents were in using Transjabodetabek services.

This was conveyed by Dedi after attending the Mitra Praja Utama Regional Cooperation Forum (FKD-MPU) in Central Jakarta.

"In terms of public transportation, the urgency is seen, right. The urgency, if indeed that must also be done in collaboration with the Provincial Government (West Java), the Provincial Government provides subsidies. If the urgency is fundamental, we have no problem. but if it is not an urgency, we will prioritize more basic things," Dedi told reporters, Tuesday, June 17.

According to Dedi, the need for infrastructure and public facilities between people in Jakarta and West Java cannot be completely equated. With a population of around 50 million people, many areas in West Java are rural areas.

"In Jakarta, we are talking about Transjakarta, but we must also talk about West Java, which is a village. I encourage school children to go to school not to only carry motorized vehicles," said Dedi.

Moreover, if there is a need for public transportation for school children, Dedi prioritizes the procurement of free buses to pick them up from home to their respective education units.

"In the future, I have to think about school buses for them, public transportation equipment, because they are far from school. It's different, right, we are dealing with areas that are still isolated and remote today," he explained.

In the same event, DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung revealed that the DKI Provincial Government will add five Transjabodetabek routes from Jakarta to buffer areas in West Java and Banten.

Since the beginning of his tenure as Governor of DKI until now, Pramono has inaugurated 5 Transjabodetabek routes, including Alam Sutera-Blok M, PIK2-Blok M, Bogor-Blok M, Sawangan-Lebak Bulus, and Vida Bekasi-Cawang.

"For this Transjabodetabek, areas that intersect directly with Jakarta are West Java and Banten. So we will open approximately 10 new routes. Now there will be 5 more," said Pramono.

Pramono admitted that the DKI Provincial Government cannot solve congestion problems in Jakarta by facilitating mass public transportation services only in the Jakarta area. This is the basis for the DKI Provincial Government to expand Transjabodetabek services to buffer areas.

"This will really be a new color in the transportation sector because we will half force people to use public transportation, no longer people," said Pramono.