Bus fare hikes caused by lack of coordination<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A lack of coordination between government
\ninstitutions was behind the unlawful bus fare increases during
\nthe Idul Fitri holidays, the head of the Organization of Land
\nTransportation Owners (Organda), Aip Sjarifuddin, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Aip told reporters at the city hall that the absence of
\ncoordination was evidenced by the local administration's forcing
\nbuses to enter local bus terminals during the Idul Fitri holidays
\neven though the directorate general of land transportation had
\nissued a ruling limiting the number of terminals to be called on.<\/p>\n
Bus crews had been forced to substantially raise their fares
\nto cover extra expenses, Aip said, which included illegal fees
\nlevied at official terminals and other fees charged at other bus
\nstations.<\/p>\n
\"Bus drivers were ordered to pay additional fees to certain
\nofficers and to preman (hoodlums) at bus terminals along the
\njourney from Jakarta to their destinations both in Java or
\nSumatra,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The situation was made worse by city administrations who
\nforced buses to stop at a number of extra terminals and to pay
\nadditional levies as a means of raising extra revenue, Aip said.<\/p>\n
He said that in Tegal, Central Java, police officers had
\nforbidden bus drivers from stopping at a local bus terminal in
\norder to increase the speed of traffic flow. But officers from
\nthe local administration later forced the buses to return to the
\nterminal under an order of the regent, he said.<\/p>\n
A regulation issued by the directorate general of land
\ntransportation reduced the number inter-city bus terminals to be
\ncalled on in Java during the Idul Fitri holidays to between nine
\nand 11, Aip said.<\/p>\n
In practice, the buses had been forced to go through about 31
\nbus terminals and each terminal had asked them to pay a fee of
\nbetween Rp 600 (27 US cents) and Rp 3,000 each, he said.<\/p>\n
\"That is the main reason why most bus crews violated fare
\nregulations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aip urged the government, especially the Ministry of Home
\nAffairs, the Land Transportation Control Agency and security
\nofficers, to improve their coordination in order to prevent the
\nproblem from recurring in the future.<\/p>\n
He said members of his organization had sent complaints about
\nthe additional costs they had had to pay during Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
\"We are still collecting complaints from our members and will
\nreport them to the Ministry of Transportation in due course,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Aip asked the government to pardon bus companies that had
\nviolated fare regulations where there were mitigating
\ncircumstances.<\/p>\n
He said bus company employees sometimes faced a situation in
\nwhich they could not avoid violating fare regulations.<\/p>\n
It would be unjust, he said, to mete out the same punishments
\nto all offending bus companies without first considering the
\nparticular nature of their infractions. (yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bus-fare-hikes-caused-by-lack-of-coordination-1447893297",
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