Bogor drivers go on strike to protest student vandalism<\/p>\n
BOGOR (JP): Dozens of public transportation drivers plying
\nseveral routes between Bogor and Jakarta's outskirts went on
\nstrike on Thursday in protest at a rising trend of student
\nvandalism which frequently led to their vehicles being damaged.<\/p>\n
The drivers also demonstrated by parking their minibuses at an
\nintersection in Depok before riding in a convoy along Jl. Raya
\nJakarta-Bogor and dispersing in Cibinong.<\/p>\n
They demanded that police and other related agencies guarantee
\nsecurity against attacks, mostly by high school students, on
\ntheir vehicles.<\/p>\n
\"Twelve minibuses serving various Bogor-Jakarta routes have
\nbeen damaged recently,\" Budi, one of the protesting drivers,
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said that six of the damaged minibuses were owned by Mekar
\nJaya, two by Miniarta, two by Karya Jaya and another two by Jaya
\nMini.<\/p>\n
\"The damage was mostly in the form of broken windows as they
\nwere pelted with stones by the students,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"In such cases the minibus owners usually pass the repair
\ncosts on to us,\" he said. \"Each of the windows costs Rp 100,000
\n(US$13.30). If more than one is broken, how can we get such a
\nlarge amount of money just for the repairs?\" Budi asked.<\/p>\n
High school students contacted by The Jakarta Post said they
\nattacked the minibuses because the drivers usually refused to
\nallow them to board, possibly because they paid much lower fares
\nthan other passengers.<\/p>\n
\"We're fed up with such a situation,\" one of the students who
\nasked not to be named said.<\/p>\n
Tarigan, another minibus driver, said that the reluctance on
\nthe part of the drivers to transport the students was not caused
\nby the lower fares but by the fact that students from certain
\nschools were frequently involved in street brawls, and that this
\nled to vandalism.<\/p>\n
\"They clash anywhere, including aboard the buses. They
\nfrighten other passengers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Students most frequently involved in clashes were from several
\nschool in Cijantung and Pasar Rebo in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We strongly demand guarantees for security from the police
\nand responsibility from the school principals,\" Tarigan said.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the drivers' strike, Bogor Police chief Lt. Col.
\nFerial Manaf said that he would not tolerate any brutality on the
\npart of the students and promised to maintain security in his
\narea. But he also urged the drivers to be willing to transport
\nthe students to help reduce the tension.<\/p>\n
\"We will not hesitate to take stern action against naughty
\nstudents by arresting them and asking their parents to pay for
\nthe damage as well as the principals to impose academic sanctions
\non the arrested students,\" Ferial said.<\/p>\n
Thursday's strike, the third such action by the drivers,
\ncaused many passengers to be stranded in the morning. (24\/hhr)<\/p>",
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