Dengarkan

The Indonesian capital Jakarta is a dangerous place to be a pedestrian....

You could fall into an open drain or be hit by a motorbike while trying to negotiate the cities broken walkways.

Last year there were over 900 official deaths from traffic accidents in the city, with many others going unreported.

Ben Westcott joined a group protestors this week who are demanding the government make it safe for people to walk... Jakarta is a danger place to be a pedestrian....

You could fall into an open drain or be hit by a motorbike while trying to negotiate the cities broken walkways.

Last year there were over 900 official deaths from traffic accidents in the city, with many others going unreported.

Ben Westcott joined a group protestors this week who are demanding the government make it safe for people to walk...

Walking in Jakarta is difficult at the best of times. As I walk along a standard Jakartan street, bollards block the way on an already narrow path, less than a metre wide. The footpath is cracked and uneven, a tripping hazard for anyone who doesn’t constantly watch where their feet are going. And it can go from difficult to dangerous in a moment. On January 22nd last year nine pedestrians were killed by an out of control car which ran up on the sidewalk. I’m on my way to a protest marking the one year anniversary of that event, which is hoped to again raise the issue of pedestrian rights on Jakarta’s sidewalk.”

The 2012 accident, which claimed the lives of an entire family, shocked Jakarta.

Since then there have been calls for a city-wide Pedestrian Day to raise awareness of pedestrian safety.

The Koalisi Pejalan Kaki or Pedestrian Coalition is behind the protest.

Ahmad Safrudin is from the Coalition.

“We would like to commemorate this date as our moment, how we came to improve the workability in Jakarta as a safety and good for the people of Jakarta.”

It’s raining heavily but that isn’t deterring people from displaying their signs which read ‘Respect Pedestrian, Respect Our Sidewalks’.

Anthony Ladjar is the founder of the Pedestrian Coalition.

“It’s a climax for the Pedestrian Coalition because today we celebrate Pedestrian Day. We don’t officially have any Pedestrian Day here so we have to make one to make the Government remember that every time they build a road they also have to build the pavement. Today we say to the government that being a pedestrian is one of the modes of transport and it should be at the top of the list. Not motorcycles, not cars, not motorised transport.”

Out of 31 thousand people killed on the streets of Jakarta in 2010, more than 6 thousand of them were people walking on sidewalks.

The new administration has started moving street vendors off the sidewalks to make them easier for pedestrians.

Despite this, the Jakarta government still claims only 20 percent of the city’s sidewalks meet safety standards.

Marco Kusumawijaya is the founder of the Rujak Center for Urban Studies.

He was the first to suggest the idea of a Pedestrian Day in response to last year’s deadly accident.

One year on and he says not enough been done.

“First they have to really mobilise their security personnel to enforce the laws that already exist; that pedestrians have their rights and they should not be threatened by motorists etc. And they have to build good, technically qualifying sidewalks all over the city. But on top of that, pedestrians walk because they are using public transport. Now that most Jakartans understand how important public transport is, I think it is a good time to build good pedestrian facilities in conjunction with a good public transport system.”

51-year old Yati weaves a wicker chair as she talks to us.

She sells furniture on the side of Jalan Pramuka, a busy street in the capital and says she doesn’t care about pedestrians.

“We are not supposed to be here, we’re not supposed to sell things here. There’s no other place for us so we just work here. We rented out this place from the military quarter here. I don’t know if this disrupts the pedestrians, but they can still walk on the other half of the pavement.”

But 39-year old security guard Sainan likes the idea of better sidewalks in Jakarta.

“The sidewalk here is not safe because motorcycles go use it. It’s a good idea to make the pavements wider so people will feel safe walking on the road.”