Famous actress and dangdut singer Dewi Persik almost joined the long list of people who disregarded the golden rule about Jakarta’s Busway lanes (that they’re exclusively reserved for TransJakarta buses and emergency vehicles), but the aftermath of her near-violation has become the focus of an unnecessarily drawn out saga that could lead to a legal battle pitting her against the TransJakarta officer who refused to let her use the lane.
According to reports, Dewi was being driven by a male friend in her Jaguar on Jalan Pejaten, South Jakarta on Friday evening. Her car was stopped by a TransJakarta officer as it was about to enter the Busway lane, leading to some name calling between them and several motorcycle drivers joining in, as seen in this video shared by the actress on Instagram:
There are, of course, two conflicting accounts of who initiated the argument. According to Dewi’s camp, they needed to get in the Busway lane to skip the traffic jam because her assistant was having an asthma attack in the car and needed immediate medical attention. The officer who stopped their car was allegedly rude to her, and she pointed out that in the video above it was the officer who screamed obscenities (well, if you consider “monkey” an obscene word) at them unprovoked.
Dewi said she is considering legal action against the officer for his alleged rudeness.
“I have appointed a lawyer, Pak Maha. He said it’s up to me (to sue or not), it depends on the kindness of my heart,” Dewi said, as quoted by Detik yesterday.
In response to this thinly veiled threat, TransJakarta said they are going to stand by their officer and could launch a legal action of their own as they believe he did no wrong.
According to TransJakarta Spokesman Wibowo, the people in Dewi’s car were the ones who provoked the argument as they insulted the officer first.
“There was no insult (by our officer), maybe he raised his tone because he was insulted at first. Our officer tried to tell them that private vehicles aren’t allowed in the Busway lane, and then he was called names,” he said.
Wibowo added that if Dewi really needed to get her assistant to the hospital, then she should’ve taken an ambulance, not her Jaguar.
TransJakarta First Director Budi Kaliwono also defended his officer, who he praised for doing his job well.
“Even I can’t enter (the Busway lane). Even the governor can’t enter as well,” he said, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
Budi reaffirmed that private vehicles are not allowed on the Busway lane unless one has obtained a permit (government officials’ cars often have this) or if the lane is opened for private vehicles to alleviate traffic under the discretion of a traffic police officer in the field.
The fine for a private vehicle driving on the Busway lane is IDR500,000 (US$37), but Dewi was reportedly not fined as her car did not fully enter the lane before the officer told them to back up.
