According to a statement received on Monday, Sumadi made the remark while reviewing the implementation of the service at the Bandar Raya Payung Sekaki Type A Bus Station, Pekanbaru City, Riau Province, on June 11, 2023.
“The president’s (Joko Widodo’s) directive is that mass transportation should be improved, so that it can become the community’s first choice when traveling. Hence, we (the Transportation Ministry) have to plan, allocate the budget, implement, and monitor the service well,” he remarked.
The minister stated that Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest population growth in the world, so the massive use of means of private transportation, especially in big cities, causes more traffic jams and pollution.
Hence, all parties should participate in promoting the use of public transportation, he stated.
The Transportation Ministry recorded that the Bandar Raya Payung Sekaki Type A Bus Station served a total of 1,354,917 passengers in 2022, an increase of 26.2 percent, from 1,073,480 passengers in 2021.
The bus station regularly conducts ramp checks or safety inspections to maintain the safety of passengers. During the period from January to May 2023, the condition of 3,435 buses had been reviewed.
After visiting the bus station, Sumadi headed to the Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru City to review the safety aspects of the airport as well as the supporting vehicles operated in the airport, such as fire trucks.
As quoted from the website of Swiss air quality technology corporation IQAir, on June 12, 2023, at 12:25 p.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB), Jakarta ranked sixth as the most polluted city, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 143.
Earlier, Head of the Jakarta Provincial Environment Office Asep Kuswanto noted that the industry and transportation sectors were the main contributors to air pollution in the region.
Therefore, the Jakarta Provincial Government has striven to increase the number of urban green spaces and conduct vehicle emission tests in the area to improve the air quality, Acting Governor of Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono stated.
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Translator: Benardy Ferdiansyah, Uyu Liman
Editor: Anton Santoso
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