Problems Jakarta is Facing
With such a huge population, Jakarta faces many problems. Traffic congestion is one, which also leads to bad public transport. Traffic congestion can cost Indonesia Billions of dollars per year. People can be stuck in traffic for hours. Using a motorcycle or bike to get to work is much more efficient. The traffic also slows public transport like busses down making public transport less desirable. Jakarta is also the largest city in the world without an Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) or also popularly known as Metro. However the building of a MRT is being discussed and is under the process of being built.
The Immense population causes a chain reaction of problems. With so many people living in Jakarta, there are also a lot of cars, buses and motorcycles. This causes Traffic but also causes Jakarta to suffer from Pollution. Flooding poses a great threat. Floods pose a big problem to Jakarta because of its location, a lowland area with many rivers and lakes. The outer parts of Jakarta are located on higher ground and are not so vulnerable to flooding. Many towns have been turned into water catchment areas on the outer edge on Jakarta because the basin areas of all rivers in Jakarta are in the peripheries of Jakarta. However the flooding just got worse. The Governor at that time, Sutiyoso, blamed the floods on deforestation and said that the peripheries of Jakarta were too overbuilt. Decreasing the water catchment areas and converting them into an urban zone helped. Protecting ground water areas and water catchment areas will aid in stopping the land subsidence. Jakarta's best way to deal with its extreme population is to go up. Already, there are some elevated roads. With more roads the traffic congestion can be reduced. Giving Jakarta this hight also aids Jakarta in times of floods. |