Jakarta (dpa) - The Jakarta city administration on Wednesday launched its first-ever river taxis, marking the beginning of a planned large-scale water transport system aimed at reducing traffic snarls in the Indonesian capital.

Two water taxis each with a capacity of 28 passengers voyaged 1.7 kilometres along the West Flood Canal between Halimun, South Jakarta and Karet, Central Jakarta, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

"For the time being, it is only a tourist attraction, but we will develop it as public transport," Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso was quoted as saying when inaugurating the waterway project.

Jakarta's population is more than 12 million people and another 6 million live on the city's outskirts, leaving many areas vulnerable to traffic jams.

Officials from the city transportation agency said the water taxis would initially only operate on weekends, two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, with a one-way ticket costing 1,500 rupiah (17 cents).

The city plans to expand the transportation system from the West Flood Canal to the East Flood Canal, which is currently under construction, for a total length of 40 kilometres.

However, there are numerous obstacles including large amounts of garbage in the canals, unpredictable water levels and low bridges.

Sutiyoso expressed the hope that the waterway project would become a turning point in attempts to clean the city's fowl-smelling canals, revitalize slum areas along their banks and rehabilitate canal basins.

For years, the city administration planned to build a subway system, which today exists only on paper, and construction of a citywide monorail has barely begun but is already facing funding problems.