Jokowi gets things done
SINCE taking office last October, Joko Widodo, the unassuming, populist governor of Jakarta, has lived up to his reputation as Mr Fix-it. Having turned Indonesia’s political order on its head by unseating the incumbent governor in the capital, he has set himself apart from other politicians, many of whom are seen as corrupt, arrogant and aloof.
Mr Widodo, fondly known as “Jokowi,” takes unannounced strolls through slum areas speaking with residents about access to health care and education. Giggly housewives want their photo taken with him. On January 9th he ordered the construction of six new toll roads and announced a plan to relocate street vendors to help reduce Jakarta’s legendary traffic jams. His administration has also drafted a proposal for a huge underground drainage tunnel to reduce the capital’s frequent flooding. In the latest deluge, on January 16th and 17th, when heavy monsoon rains submerged nearly half the city, 20 people died and 40,000 were displaced.
Mr. Widodo took to the streets again to pledge more action to prevent floods, his sense of urgency a welcome change in a country used to vague political deadlines. On January 8th he was voted the third-best mayor in the world by the 2012 World Mayor Project for his previous success running the city of Solo.
The new governor’s tenure has not been without controversy: he raised eyebrows by opposing a $1.6 billion mass rapid transit (MRT) project for Jakarta that was decades in the planning and had been scheduled to break ground this year. Instead, he suggested reviving a $495m, privately funded monorail proposal for the city centre. Jakarta is one of the few big cities in Asia without an MRT, and beleaguered city residents view building one as a last hope to end gridlock. Experts say a monorail circling central Jakarta’s shopping and business districts will not help because it would not connect commuters in the suburbs.
Now, though, Mr Widodo has backed down on the monorail, after pressing the national government to agree to increase its funding commitment for the MRT project to nearly 50%. Some say his support for the monorail was a ploy to that end. With a governor apparently as canny as he is competent, it is no wonder Mr Widodo is being touted as a possible future president.