Bus companies promise not to jack-up fares<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Public bus operators in the capital have vowed
\nto obey the government's instruction not to hike rates following
\na planned 12 percent increase in the price of gasoline
\nnationwide from Oct. 1, according to chairman of the Jakarta
\nChapter of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners
\n(Organda).<\/p>\n
"We have no more hope of hiking the rates, as the central
\ngovernment has prohibited us from doing so. But let the people
\nmake their own judgment," Aip Sjarifuddin told The Jakarta Post
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He admitted that the planned fuel price hike would be a heavy
\nburden on transport firms, not because of the 12 percent increase
\nbut the skyrocketing cost of other services and goods, including
\nauto spare parts.<\/p>\n
"We were once promised subsidized fuel. We were involved in a
\nteam, and there was a decree issued. All the regional chapters
\nwere there. But the planned subsidy was suddenly canceled. That's
\nit," Aip said.<\/p>\n
He said bus operators in the capital could do nothing in the
\nmeantime to deal with the government's plan to hike the price of
\nfuel.<\/p>\n
"One thing is for sure: our service will suffer. Our buses
\nwill be poorly maintained and the service will be so poor," Aip
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Next month's hike, which was delayed in April due to public
\nobjection, is one of the commitments that the government has made
\nto the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in return for a massive
\nbailout loan.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, which was approved by the House of
\nRepresentatives in February, the price of premium gasoline will
\nincrease to Rp 1,150 from Rp 1,000 per liter, diesel to Rp 600
\nfrom Rp 550, kerosene to Rp 350 from Rp 280 and bunker oil to Rp
\n400 from Rp 350.<\/p>\n
Millions of pedestrians commute to work every day on some
\n5,411 regular buses and minibuses, and 12,764 minivans, which
\nconsume thousands of liters of diesel per day.<\/p>\n
Last Friday, President Abdurrahman Wahid asked people to be
\nready for the fuel hike to help speed up the recovery of the
\ncountry's economy.<\/p>\n
"The general public just has to be ready, because this was a
\ncollective decision and many economics experts advised me to go
\nahead with the fuel hike by cutting the fuel subsidy,"
\nAbdurrahman told a congregation after Friday prayers at
\nBaiturrahim Mosque in the presidential palace compound in Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The government is currently spending huge sums on subsidizing
\nfuel. The benefits are felt mostly by the wealthy, who own
\nvehicles, and industrialists with factories, rather than the
\npoor.<\/p>\n
To cushion the impact on the poor, the government is preparing
\ndirect cash handouts from a fund of Rp 800 billion allocated for
\nthe purpose.<\/p>\n
But many Jakarta residents have already expressed their doubts
\non the initial expectation of the plan, worrying that the hike
\nwill only trigger an increase in the price of goods and services
\nhere. (dja\/bsr)<\/p>",
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