Goodbye BAJAJ

Jakarta will lose one of its icons, the orange three-wheeled motorized taxis known as bajaj, as the city administration plans to refurbish or destroy them all to make way for a greener public transportation system.

“There will be no change of plans. We will have a renewal program where the old bajaj will be changed to the new one, using CNG (compressed natural gas),” Governor Fauzi Bowo announced at City Hall on Monday.

It remains unknown how many bajaj in Jakarta would undergo renewal, as the scheme would later be adjusted for the supply of the gas-fueled bajaj. But the city has already launched raids on unlicensed bajaj.

In the raid on Monday, the Jakarta Transportation Agency seized about 30 unlicensed bajaj and will destroy them so that nobody would use their parts, mainly the rear axles, to make more. 

“We will crush all vehicles we manage to seize during the operation,” agency head Udar Pristono said, adding that the destruction of bajaj would be carried out in Pulogebang, North Jakarta.

He said the crackdown would be launched simultaneously in four municipalities and one regency, conducted by 50 officers from the agency together with officers from the police and military.

“Those unlicensed bajaj have never undergone tests for road-worthiness and they carry no operating licenses,” Pristono said.

According the agency, of the total of 28,000 bajaj operating in the city, half are unlicensed and only 2,755 are gas-fueled. “We can’t have old bajaj operating in this city anymore because the old ones have to be changed with the four-stroke engine to be able to use gas.”

Pristono said the owners of old bajaj had to exchange their vehicles as part of the rejuvenation program. The license plate numbers would remain the same, but their appearance would change. 

The government plans to supply free converter kits for public transportation vehicles, starting in 
Jakarta, to allow them to use gas-based fuels in a bid to slash the country’s dependency on oil-based fuels.

However, experts have expressed pessimism over the government’s nationwide plan, citing a lack of supporting infrastructure and public education.

The government would also allow private cars to convert to gas-based fuels, but the converter kits may not be free. The price of each unit is about Rp 15 million (US$1,650).

Bajaj have been an iconic part of the city since 1975. They have become one of the favorite modes of transportation among Jakarta’s residents, due to their unique characteristics: the loud rattling sound, the bumpy ride and the often slow-to-start engines.

Bajaj were introduced to gradually replace becak (pedicabs) as an alternative means of transport in the city, besides buses and taxis. Becak were later banned in the city in the 1980s, although some still operate in certain parts. 

The administration actually stopped issuing new permits for bajaj in 1986, but it continued to allow their operation, without preparing a suitable replacement vehicle. 

The suggested replacements, the four-stroke engine kancil and gas-fueled bajaj, were not as successful as the Indian-made bajaj due to their expensive price.