Why You Can’t Walk on the Sidewalk in Indonesia

The first time I went to Indonesia I thought it was fluke that there were massive gaping hole in the sidewalk and open manhole covers:

The sidewalk was an obstacle course of ruin and peril: gaping manholes along with wide open spaces where, for some reason, pieces of the sidewalk were either removed or never installed in the first place. There was nearly a dozen cavities spaced at even intervals, like that carnival game where you roll the ball along a table trying to get it in the right hole — only in this instance pedestrians were the ball and you didn’t get points for falling in. I looked down into a hole, black slop was seething five feet below. I suppose not many people walk here.

The second time I went to Indonesia I realized that this was standard fare for the country.

All through Indonesia’s cities the sidewalks are strewn with massive gaps that lead to the storm sewers below that seem to be anywhere from three to ten feet deep. If someone just happened to fall through one of these gaps there is a good chance that he would be severely injured, possibly even killed. At the very least this unfortunate schmuck would land in a pool of toxic black/ grey/ green/ brown muck, the composition of which I do not wish to know.

To make matters more volatile, these booby traps are distributed at an alarming frequency — often more than a half dozen per block — making walking down the streets here akin to a run through an obstacle course. Even in Jakarta, the nation’s capital, only 20 percent of sidewalks are reported to be passable.

These holes are the result of flooding during the monsoon season and an abject lack of maintenance. The storm drains of Indonesia’s cities often run right under the sidewalks, which are not equipped to handle the heavy precipitation that comes down in the rainy season. So the sidewalks are made of removable stone or concrete blocks or have hatches which can be pushed up and out of place by rising water beneath, relieving the drainage system of pressure.

Fair enough.

The problem is that after the storms have past and even after the rainy season is over nobody comes around to repair the sidewalks and put the blocks back in place. So after years of neglect the sidewalks of Indonesia’s cities are shot full of holes and are, seriously, unwalkable. This is not a country to be checking your phone while strolling.

No, it’s not even a country for strolling.

Needless to say, most people in the urban spheres of Indonesia don’t often walk very far, and when they do they are forced to walk in the street — which presents its own assortment of perils.