Bus drivers protest overlapping routes<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): About 160 drivers of Kopaja minibuses plying the
\nManggarai-Blok M route in South Jakarta went to the City Council
\nyesterday to complain about an overlapping route with Pahala
\nKencana buses.<\/p>\n
They demanded that the Pahala Kencana bus route, from Blok M
\nto Grogol, be revoked because it overlapped with their route for
\neight kilometers from Jl. Cianjur to Jl. Kuningan in Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The drivers went to the council building in 80 buses. Their
\narrival caused heavy traffic jams in the surrounding area.<\/p>\n
The head of Kopaja's operations division, Syarifuddin A.S.,
\nsaid that since the launch of the Pahala Kencana operation last
\nMonday, his company had lost half of its daily net income from
\nthe route.<\/p>\n
"Our income has plunged from Rp 20,000 (US$7.5) (per bus) to
\nonly about Rp 10,000 per day now," he said.<\/p>\n
It was hard to meet the daily standard rental fee of Rp
\n110,000 for an old bus and Rp 115,000 for the better ones,
\nSyarifuddin said.<\/p>\n
The operation of the new buses, according to the Kopaja
\ndrivers, had not been discussed between the Organization of City
\nLand Transportation Owners (Organda) and the Kopaja drivers'
\nassociation.<\/p>\n
The drivers claimed they had filed complaints to Jakarta's
\nLand Transportation Agency (DLLAJ) but no response had been
\nreceived.<\/p>\n
"We have no choice but to go on strike so as to attract the
\nauthorities' attention to help us settle the problems," Saroni,
\none of the drivers, said.<\/p>\n
The drivers were received yesterday by Ali Wongso, the head of
\nCommission D for public facilities, Lukman Mokoginta of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party faction and Sumekar of the Golkar
\nfaction.<\/p>\n
The councilors promised to take the problems to the council
\nmeetings and discuss them with related parties.<\/p>\n
The strike ended at about 9:45 a.m. after Ali convinced the
\ndrivers that the councilors would initiate discussions soon.<\/p>\n
"You have to go back to work after this meeting because we
\nhave to think about the suffering of passengers caused by this
\nstrike as well," he said.<\/p>\n
"Moreover, you will lose your income. Think of your own
\nfamilies too," he added.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's strike resulted in hundreds of passengers between
\nManggarai and Kuningan being delayed.<\/p>\n
Ali praised the drivers' good behavior in that they did not
\ncause any damage during the strike.<\/p>\n
"Usually this kind of strike leads to a riot and I am grateful
\nto you for your quick report to the councilors," he told the
\ndrivers.<\/p>\n
DLLAJ's chief J.P. Sepang said that the new routes given to
\nPahala Kencana were proposed by Organda because of the lack of
\nregular buses plying the Manggarai-Blok M route.<\/p>\n
"We can't think only of the sake of the drivers and the bus
\nowners, but also the needs of other people who want cheaper rates
\nfrom Pahala Kencana's regular buses," he said.<\/p>\n
Sepang said that of the eight Pahala Kencana buses, only three
\nwere operating in the area.<\/p>\n
He said that if this operation tended to cause problems, DLLAJ
\nwould review Pahala Kencana's route permits. (07)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bus-drivers-protest-overlapping-routes-1447893297",
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