REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Joko Widodo (Jokowi) pledged he would start Jakarta`s development from the slum area when he was elected governor of the capital city for the next five years. Development of Jakarta should not start from the big business centers of Kuningan, Thamrin and Kota, he said in a candidate debate on Friday evening. 

Jakarta`s slums would be developed to become an environmentally healthy residential area, the mayor of the Central Java city of Solo said. The drainage system would be improved, the houses would be well arranged with green open public areas, he said. 

He said he was optimistic he would not meet much difficulty in bringing modernity to slum areas in the city. "The Jakarta city administration has a large budget. What it needs is determination to bring the plan to reality," he said. 

Jokowi and his running mate Basuki Tjayha Purnama (Ahok) criticized the traditional market centers in Jakarta were in bad condition. Shoppers were discouraged to go to traditional market centers as they have no adequate parking places, he said. Hence, traditional market centers needed rehabilitation to be competitive facing modern shopping centers, he said. 

Jokowi also criticized his rival incumbent Fauzi Wibowo (Foke) saying Foke has failed in coping with worse problem in city transport. He cited the big project of the Mass Rapid Transportation (MRT) has been left to lie idle after years of planning.

Jokowi said a new model of MRT called capsule monorail, aimed to reduce traffic jams in Jakarta. He said capsule monorail could be built over the right and left sides of the city roads and needed no land clearing, therefore, it was much cheaper. Yet, Foke rejected the city administration being blamed for the delay in the completion of the MRT project saying "the fault lied with the investor". 

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