5,000 public transport drivers ticketed from January to June<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A joint operation by the City Land
\nTransportation and Traffic Control Agency and the City Police
\nticketed over 5,000 public transportation drivers between January
\nand June.<\/p>\n
J.P. Sepang, the head of the traffic agency, told reporters on
\nThursday that most of the drivers were ticketed for violating the
\ngovernment policy requiring public transit vehicles to have their
\ndoors closed while moving and operating on their non-assigned
\nroute.<\/p>\n
Herman Tonglo Langi, agency section head in charge of traffic
\nand transportation supervision, said the operation ticketed 776
\ntraffic violators in January, 419 in February, 866 in March,
\n1,144 in April, 1,298 in May and 836 in June.<\/p>\n
Sepang and Herman were speaking after the closing of a
\ntraining course for public transit drivers at the City Police
\ntraining center in Serpong, 15 kilometers west of Jakarta. The
\ncourse was the second of its kind to be held over the past few
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Sepang also revealed that the city administration has given
\nthe 12-seat suburban transports, KWK and Mikrolet, until December
\nto fully comply with the closed-door policy.<\/p>\n
"There'll be no excuses for them after that because we've
\ngiven them ample time to adjust to the policy," he said.<\/p>\n
Sepang said the City Transport Owners Organization will outfit
\na special door for small minivans at a price of Rp 75,000
\n(US$34). The new system will make life easier for drivers since a
\nnew lever-like device will allow them to open and close the door
\nwithout having to leave the vehicle.<\/p>\n
Courses<\/p>\n
The municipal administration has been trying to make life
\neasier for the drivers and their passengers by sponsoring a
\nseries of training courses for public transit vehicle drivers.<\/p>\n
The presentation of these courses was triggered by public
\nconcern over the reckless driving habits among transit drivers,
\nwhich have caused a series of major accidents recently.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the worst of these was an accident involving a packed
\nminibus which careened into the muddy, heavily polluted Sunter
\nRiver. Thirty-three people were killed in the accident that drew
\npublic outrage.<\/p>\n
City Police records indicate that the number of traffic
\naccidents, especially those caused by driver negligence, has
\nincreased significantly in the last few years.<\/p>\n
Last year alone, 36 out of 249 serious accidents in the
\ncapital were caused the reckless driving of public bus drivers.<\/p>\n
Between January and March 1994, for example, out of 30 fatal
\naccidents involving city buses, four were due to the negligence
\nof drivers.<\/p>\n
The just concluded two-week course, which saw the
\nparticipation of 103 bus drivers, is the second to be held by the
\ncity administration. The first was held last April.<\/p>\n
The Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs, Idroes, said
\nin a prepared speech that two weeks is not long enough for a an
\nadequately comprehensive training course.<\/p>\n
"It is, of course, too short to improve the drivers'
\ndiscipline," Idroes said.<\/p>\n
However, Idroes, told the drivers who took the course that he
\nexpects to see them setting good examples for their fellow
\ndrivers and giving the public their best possible service.<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. Triyarto, the training center chief, said that the
\ncurriculum for the course emphasizes character building.<\/p>\n
"We adopt a military style discipline into the curriculum," he
\nsaid, adding that the instructors included police officers,
\nofficials from the BP7 body for the study of Pancasila and the
\nCity Bureau of Psychological and Spiritual Development.<\/p>\n
Triyarto said the typical training day starts at 5 a.m. with
\nmorning exercises and usually ends at 10 p.m. (mds\/03)<\/p>",
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