feature To some, the Indonesian capital's becak or pedicabs are a cheap, people-friendly mode of transport. To others, they are an eyesore and cause of traffic jams. Others find pedicab driving an informal job valuable in hard times.

The truth is, millions of residents in this megacity of 10 million people use the colourful, three-wheeled, non-motorised transport for short distances.

''I need becak badly to go the market,'' said Sulastri, a homemaker in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. ''It is too far to walk, and this road is not served by public transport.''

''From the market, we would carry a lot of things and it would be terrible to have to walk to my house from there,'' she added.

But despite its popularity, city officials and some residents consider them a headache that adds to traffic congestion and draws migrants from outside the capital - and want them banned from the streets.

Tugiman, who came from Mojokerto in Central Java, has been driving pedicabs for 15 years. "Becak driving is my job. I cannot do other jobs. If the government provides me a place to sell things, I will firmly tell them that I am not a vendor, not a businessman.''

''If they (government) just allows us to pull becak - that has been providing us jobs,'' he added.

Dumped into the sea

Different city administrations have tried time and again to stop becak from operating in the city.

But a mid-August crackdown on the becak trade led to the most violent clash in the anti-becak campaign between city officers and pedicab drivers. The Roxy and Grogol areas of West Jakarta was left burning as hundreds of becak riders resisted the raid.

During that operation, the city administration seized 725 becak from five areas in the capital. The seized pedicabs were then dumped into Jakarta Bay on Aug 23.

''There are another 6,700 becak in Jakarta. We will seize and then crush them all until Jakarta is truly free from them,'' said Raya Siahaan, secretary of Jakarta City's Center for Social Conflicts Control.

The city government has said it will give compensation of 250,000 rupiah (US$29) per becak for those who are willing to give up their vehicles - but not for becak seized during the August operation.

Vice-Governor Abdul Kahfi says 280 pedicabs were surrendered voluntarily to the city administration by their owners ''and we have paid them their compensation''.

Angry reactions

The debate over what to do with becak goes back to 1994, when the then Jakarta governor declared the capital's roads becak-free. They were allowed to operate only in housing estates and small roads in the suburbs.

But the ruling has never been effective, as becak continued to be visible in the capital's main roads because residents found them useful.

Crackdowns on becak frequently meet resistance from their drivers and often turn into violent clashes with the city officers, as the August crackdown showed.

In the 'reformasi' fever after President Suharto's fall in 1998, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso allowed pedicabs to operate again but ran into such angry reactions that he withdrew the decision the next day.

But the bigger debate is the role of small transport in a megacity like Jakarta, which like many modern Asian capital, increasingly see themselves more as a city for motorists rather than for pedestrians and poorer folk as well.

Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a legal expert, said the government's ruling cannot ignore reality. ''The reality is that millions of Jakartans use becak. It is one of the vital means of transport. A ruling should be based on this fact.''

''It is obvious that the Jakarta administration's decision to eradicate becak is not based on survey and field research,'' he said, adding that the government was supposed to do a poll on the necessity of becak to Jakarta residents.

Seasonal job

Likewise, the Urban Poor Consortium, an NGO, says small transport is legitimate livelihood for poorer people.

''We disagree with the view that driving becak is inhuman. That is the view of middle-class people who do not respect the people's right to make a living,'' said UPC executive member Azas Tigor Nainggolan.

Data at the UPC shows there are some 9,000 becak drivers, spread across 64 main stopping points. ''Our recent survey concluded that the capital could have another one thousand becak to fill 44 new stopping points,'' Nainggolan said.

But officials say they worry about continued migration from outside Jakarta that pedicab driving encourages.

Argued Harkrisnowo: ''Even though if it is true that many becak drivers are not Jakarta residents, what's wrong with making a living in Jakarta? It is every one's right to make a living here.''

A survey by the Akatiga social research centre shows that becak driving is a seasonal job for villagers during the dry season. Villagers migrate to the capital to drive becak, and return to their villages during the harvest or replanting season.

Only five percent of becak drivers in Jakarta at present have residential identity cards, the city administration says.

UPC says pedicab driving actually supports quite a number of families - the 9,000 becak drivers here feed hundreds of thousands of family members in the villages.

Improve, don't scrap

But some Jakarta residents agree with becak eradication. '' Becak clearly makes the capital more untidy and more importantly, hampers efforts to modernise the transportation system,'' said a member of the Jakarta House.

While the government regards becak riding as one of the lowest forms of manual labor and beneath human dignity, some feel their eradication would be a cultural loss and take away some of Jakarta's character.

''Becak is one of the most convenient forms of short-hop transportation ever devised. It's one of Indonesia's tourist attractions,'' pointed out Roy Simpson, an Australian who has been living for five years in Jakarta.

Becak drivers say a more constructive approach by the government would be to rationalise the stopping points to prevent traffic jams and improve the system instead of scrapping it.

Previous governments said they would give training to becak drivers in other jobs, but not much happened to those plans. Now, the Jakarta administration is offering becak drivers jobs in car shops, cleaning services and offering stalls in the traditional markets for those who are interested.

Kahfi says this may not be the best solution, but '' ... one thing is clear: Jakarta should be free from becak.''

But ''the solution is clear,'' stressed the activist Nainggolan. ''Provide becak spaces to operate and manage them properly.''

The above story was first written for the Inter-Press Service (IPS).