Pandaya – What could be the best solution to Jakarta's horrendous traffic so that people can get to work on time without them having to leave at dawn and get home again at dusk every other day?

You can offer lots of suggestions but you have to accept these two solutions. One is the MRT proposed by Governor Joko Widodo and the other is low-cost green cars sponsored by top central government bureaucrats.

I know most of you prefer the high-cost MRT, which is underway, but it is impossible to reject low-priced cars because they are already selling fast. Since the small monsters were introduced to the public in the recent Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS), major car makers and traders had every good reason to keep smiling upon seeing the long pre-order list.

Although sales agents would never reveal the identities of the people on the lists, they must be mostly rich townspeople who are duped by the capitalists clever catchphrase "low-cost green cars" that will lift their social status from motorcyclist to motorist.

Forget about the prophecy that Jakarta traffic would grind to a halt as soon as next year if car purchase continues at the present rate and construction of new roads is next to nothing and that the government has so far done little to put the brake on the roaring car buying rate through stricter legislation.

Worry about traffic congestion?

An assuring reply came from Vice President Boediono, a fierce advocate of the low-cost car scheme: "Traffic congestion is a common problem that we will solve together."

A populist defense for the green car was demonstrated by Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat, a famous proponent of locally-made products. He says the low-cost car will allow less wealthy citizens to shift from motorbikes to cars and speed up the transfer of technology.

Never mind a country like Thailand that abandoned its low-cost car scheme and shifted priority to MRT to make its roads passable. Now bureaucrats see Thailand as a serious threat to Indonesia's car market share when the ASEAN free trade goes into effect in 2015. So the low-cost cars are expected to protect the local market.

The Yudhoyono administration has provided huge incentives for the low-cost green cars to the delight of carmakers already making trillions of rupiah with their "expensive" cars.

Oops – after a barrage of criticism, state bureaucrats quickly clarified arguments. They said that the low-cost cars are mainly intended for people outside urban areas. And they expect us to believe it. Anyway, is the disputed car really "low-cost", environmentally-friendly and attractive only to the less wealthy?

Designed with an engine running on at least a RON 92 (equivalent to the nonsubsidized Pertamax), the cars are priced below Rp 100 million (US$8.800) off the production line although one brand with security features added has up to Rp 120 million tag.

The "most competitive" price is Rp 76 million for a car which would be more suitable for a public minivan because it is not fitted with an air conditioner, let alone airbags.

So buy this minimalist car, open the windows for "natural AC", don't mind inhaling urban fumes from every other vehicle on the road and be forever prepared to jump out when you think a crash is unavoidable. Otherwise you have to add the standard convenience parts and for that, the money you must fork out of your pocket will be more than Rp 100 million!

Still "cheap"? I mean for an average employee who earns, say, Rp 10 million a month already comfortable with their Rp 12 million scooter which needs one liter of subsidized Premium gasoline to travel 50 km?

Chances are that most of the car buyers will be rich townspeople who want spare cars to take their kids to school or maids to the market.

Oh, they claim that the car can run at least 20 km for every liter of gasoline, which makes it a "green" vehicle but of course, the extremely fine print says it is achievable in an ideal road condition when the car is still brand new.

If the car is stuck in a sea of traffic in the city street during rush hour, the claim will be as empty as the car's gas tank will eventually become. Honk, honk...