Slideshow: Infrastructure in Indonesia
Indonesia’s infrastructure faces many challenges.
Transport
The Great Divide: inequity on Indonesia’s highways
After many months on the high seas and highways of Indonesia I’ve finally made it into the Javanese heartland, and I’m in shock. The cause of my shock is, principally, shock absorbers: those things that I had assumed had been rattled out of every bus in the archipelago….
Rubber time: new departures for an old concept
Many of you will be familiar with Indonesia’s approach to timekeeping, affectionately known as “rubber time”. Like rubber (and the patience of many Indonesians), it can be stretched almost infinitely. Unlike rubber, it tends only to stretch in one direction. Buses start filling up on a notional schedule but don’t leave until they are full; ferries board passengers from a given time, but probably won’t ship out until the tide is right. Meetings are set for time x, and start…
Motorised transportation…
…takes a front seat in some of Indonesia’s smaller islands.