The eajor problem with development in Indonesia is infrastructure. The country cannot even ensure clean water for its citizens. Decentralization is another issue as far as governments are concerned. After democratic rule took over in 1998, the government became decentralized. Before this shift, Suharto (and his “cronies”) held all the power in the central government. To give an example, let’s turn to the topic of bribes. Bribery isn’t uncommon in Indonesia. In fact, an economist (Dr. Basri) explained bribery in terms of efficiency. His studies suggest that there as an efficient amount of bribery, in so far that it can save time and energy. For example, let’s say a cop pulls you over for making an illegal U-turn. Whether or not it actually was illegal may be a different story, but that is beside the point. If a policeman pulls you over, you basically have the option to pay him off, or pay a lesser fine and have to deal with standing in lines at the police station and going to court. So, morals aside, paying off the cop may render both parties better off, economically speaking. The driver pays a premium to resolve the issue without wasting additional time dealing with bureaucracy, and the policeman makes money.
Similar situations are said to occur in business. The problem with decentralization is that the terms and conditions of bribery are unclear. As one businessman said, before [with Suharto] you knew exactly how much to pay, whom to pay, and what that would get you. Now things are much less efficient. Local and regional governments vie for a piece of the pie and outcomes are unclear.
Driving in Jakarta is borderline terrifying. Rarely do drivers follow traffic rules in Jakarta, i.e. motorcycles weave in and out of the ‘buses only’ lane. In fact every time I rode in a bus or taxi, I felt like I had at least one near death experience. Our bus nearly sideswiped motorbikes, bicycles, or pushcarts. Yet surprisingly, I did not witness one accident. The ultimate Jakarta driving experience took place in a taxi. Riding with Lisa, Laura, and Aaron from the hotel to PT Lautan Luas, our cab driver did not speak English or even know where we were going. He stopped three times to ask locals for directions, abandoning us in the lane with the flashers on and doors unlocked. I was convinced we were either going to get crushed by incoming traffic or hijacked by one of many looming shady characters. When our taxi driver stopped and showed a shopkeeper the address on a busy highway, he realized he has overshot the left hand turn by about 300 meters. Now they drive on the opposite side of the road in Indonesia (as they do in Singapore and Hong Kong), and the way this highway was constructed, plus traffic, meant it would have taken up to an additional 20-30 minutes to turn around. This did not cross my mind however, when he decided to turn on his flashers and just back up in the lane into oncoming traffic. I couldn’t bear to look, but Lisa and Laura screamed and shouted about watching out for an old man on a bicycle, not to mention trucks and motos. Not like the taxi driver explained any of this to us, he just smiled and kindly collected the fare once we safely reached PT Lautan Luas for the company visit (15 minutes after the other taxis dropped off our peers).
Traffic in Jakarta
Aaron in the front-seat of our abandoned Taxi.
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