"We want all citizens to enjoy this modern transportation facility without exception, including passengers with special needs," Director General of Railways at the Ministry of Transportation, Zulfikri, said in a statement on Thursday.
Zulfikri stated that modern facilities provided by Jakarta LRT include escalators, elevators for special needs passengers, ramps, surveillance cameras or CCTV, medical rooms, "guiding blocks" to guide the blind passenger road, toilets for disabled, and priority seats in platform or on the train.
In addition, there will be service officers at the station who will help people with disabilities board and alight the train.
Zulfikri explained that the provision of facilities and infrastructure for persons with disabilities is an effort of the government to fulfill its rights in accordance with Law number 8 of 2016 concerning people with disabilities.
Therefore, he continued that his side will continue to make improvements and add facilities for people with disabilities ahead of the inauguration the modern mode of transportation in 2019.
Referring to Bappenas data, he remarked that the number of people with disabilities in Indonesia is estimated at around 15 percent of the total population of around 36 million.
In Jakarta, based on data from the DKI Jakarta Central Statistics Agency (BPS), there were 6,003 people with disabilities in the capital city in 2015.
"This is also our concern. Therefore, the fulfillment of facilities for people with disabilities will be carried out in all LRT stations," he added.
Limited Trial
Meanwhile, currently, the Jakarta LRT corridor 1 phase 1 middle has been operated in a limited manner.
Operations within the framework of the LRT trial between Velodrome Station and Kelapa Gading Mall Station last for 30 calendar days, starting from Aug 21 to Sept 20, 2018.
The limited operation in question is the passenger being transported and not the general public.
Passengers are not charged. During the trial period, only one train set used to commute between the Velodrome Station and the 4.7-kilometer Kelapa Gading Station.
"There are five stations, namely the Velodrome Station, Horse Racing Station, Pulomas Station, Kelapa Gading Boulevard Station, and Kelapa Gading Mall Station. The five stations are still under construction," Zulfikri explained.
He elaborated that the Jakarta LRT will continue to be evaluated until it is declared feasible to be operational for the public.
PT Jakarta Propertindo is obliged to complete all LRT construction work after completion of the operation.
Reported by Juwita Trisna Rahayu
Edited by Eliswan
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
