If you’ve ever had a flat tire while driving in Jakarta, chances are you discovered that a nail (or some other spiky object) was the cause. That’s because nail traps, which many believe are laid out by tire-repairmen to boost demand for their services, are ubiquitous on Jakarta’s roads.
Nail traps are even found on Jakarta’s major roads, including Jalan Veteran, the road that runs behind the State Palace in Central Jakarta.
Thankfully, a group of ojek motorcycle taxi drivers for ride-hailing apps such as GrabBike and Go-Jek have teamed up to regularly to rid the road of nail traps.
“Everyday there are many (nail traps). I am stationed here. At home I’ve collected three jars (of nail traps),” said a GrabBike driver by the name of Rusdi, as quoted by Detik today.
Rusdi said that nail traps are also usually found on roads around the State Palace, namely Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara and Jalan Gajah Mada. He says GrabBike and Go-Jek drivers often have to pick up nails by hand or by using their own homemade magnet tools.
He hopes that the Jakarta provincial government will install CCTV cameras around the area to catch unscrupulous nail trap planters.
Back in August, a community called Saber (Sapu Bersih, translated to Clean Sweep) said they collected up to 4 tons of nails from cleaning up nail traps throughout Jakarta for the past five years.
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