INDONESIA: Government now liable for road damage, injuries and deaths of elderly

. JAKARTA, Indonesia / The Jakarta Post / May 27, 2009 The Indonesian government can no longer ignore potholes dotting the country’s roads now that a newly passed bill allows citizens to file lawsuits against it for accidents resulting from poor road maintenance. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the traffic bill into law during a plenary meeting Tuesday, replacing the old law enforced in 1992. “There are several important additions to the new law. For example, a state institution can be charged with criminal conduct should it fail to maintain roads under its jurisdiction,” chairman of the House of Representatives’ traffic bill working committee, Yosef Umar Hadi, told The Jakarta Post. Government officials responsible for road maintenance, who violate Article 273 of the new law, are punishable with a prison sentence of up to six months or fines of up to Rp 12 million (US$1,164) for any accident that occurs as a result of their failure to immediately repair the damaged road. Should a person die as a result of the accident, the act of negligence may result in a prison sentence of up to five years for the head of the government agency or fines of at least Rp 12 million. “If the government agency is unable to repair the damaged road immediately, then it must install warning signs on the roadside,” Yoseph said. “Once the signs are in place, the government can no longer be charged with negligence if an accident occurs,” he added. However, the law does not specify any timeframe for the government to repair the damaged roads. Last year, Jakarta saw a number of motorcyclists killed in road accidents as a result of potholes. They either fell into the potholes or were struck by passing trucks as they avoided potholes. The law also includes new articles on resolving traffic accident cases; special treatment for the disabled, pregnant women, elderly people and children; traffic information systems; traffic safety and security. The new law also regulates the clear division of labor among the Transportation Ministry, the National Police, the Public Works Ministry and local administrations. Transportation Minister Jusman Syafi’i Djamal said the responsibility for road construction and maintenance would fall under the Public Works Ministry. The law stipulates the road maintenance fund is collected from road users. “The government will then incorporate the road maintenance fund into the annual state budget,” Jusman said. Yoseph also asked the police and local administrations to transfer motorist administration fees and road contributions to the Public Works Ministry and then to the road fund. The amount of fees collected by the police alone reached around Rp 9 trillion (US$900 million) per year, he said. Indonesia has about 350,000 kilometers of roads, 35,000 of which are national roads built solely by the central government. According to the Transportation Ministry, around 65 percent of national roads are heavily damaged. This year, the central government has allocated Rp 18.7 trillion for developing, maintaining and reconstructing around 33,000 kilometers of roads and 62,000 meters of bridges. (hdt) Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post