Awaiting recommendation to buy buses from China<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Following the signing of the agreement for the
\nmarketing of 2,000 buses from Texmaco on the previous day, the
\ncity administration on Friday said that it would continue efforts
\nto obtain a government recommendation which would lower the
\nimport tax for the 3,000 buses to be shipped from China as part
\nof its plan to replace the city's aging buses.<\/p>\n
City Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ) Chief Buyung Atang
\nsaid that his office has been urgently waiting for the
\nrecommendation from Minister of Transportation and
\nTelecommunication Agum Gumelar over the import tax issue which
\nhas become the main obstacle for the city to realize its plan to
\nimport the Chinese made buses.<\/p>\n
\"The highly anticipated letter of recommendation from the
\nminister would help support the governor's approval for the bus
\nimports which, in turn, could help lower the tax for the
\ncompletely built up buses from China,\" Buyung said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the Organization of Land Transportation Owners
\n(Organda) for Jakarta Chapter signed a memorandum of
\nunderstanding (MoU) with PT Texmaco Perkasa Engineering to help
\nmarket its 2,000 Perkasa buses to city bus operators here.<\/p>\n
The city currently needs around 5,000 buses to replace the
\naging buses. Jakarta currently has 2,028 buses, including
\nminibuses, which have been serving passengers for more than 20
\nyears, and 1,556 others that have been servicing the capital's
\nresidents for at least 15 years.<\/p>\n
Buyung said after the signing on Thursday that the remaining
\n3,000 buses needed to replace the old city buses would likely be
\nshipped from China.<\/p>\n
\"The Ministry of Trade and Industry has agreed to lower the
\nimport tax from 40 percent to five or 10 percent. But they said
\nthat the buses should be completely knocked down vehicles to help
\nboost local auto assemblers,\" Buyung said.<\/p>\n
The city administration initially planned to replace all of
\nthe aging buses by shipping them from China. The plan was changed
\nafter the ministry refused to lower the import taxes for the
\nbuses.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Buyung said that he hoped minister Agum would
\nsupport the city's plan since it's probably impossible for the
\ncity to meet the prerequisite set by the Ministry of Industry and
\nTrade.<\/p>\n
\"The buses from China would be all CBU ones, meaning that the
\nministry would stick to its policy of charging for the vehicles
\nat the 40-percent rate,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to Buyung, he doubted that local auto assemblers
\nhere were qualified enough to handle the Chinese buses due to
\ntheir limited experience and capacity.<\/p>\n
\"From what I have studied, two big assembler companies in
\nMagelang, Central Java, namely PT Tugas Anda and PT Delima Jaya,
\ncould only assemble 300 vehicles per month, while the city needs
\n3,000 buses within a very short time,\" he said, adding that the
\nfirst fleet of 1,000 buses is due to arrive next month.<\/p>\n
\"We understand that we have to use domestic products. But
\nsometimes we have to understand the limitation and the urgency,\"
\nhe added. (dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/awaiting-recommendation-to-buy-buses-from-china-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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