Council urges bus fare hike be reviewed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The City Council will likely turn down the
\ngovernment's proposal to increase bus fares by up to almost 60
\npercent, saying that the hike should be lower.<\/p>\n
The City Council's Commission D for development affairs
\nchairman Sayogo Hendrosubroto asked the administration not to
\ninclude all operational cost components, such as the price of
\nbuses, as a consideration to increase the fares.<\/p>\n
\"If the administration only include the hike in fuel and spare
\nparts prices, the bus fare increase would not as high as
\nproposed,\" Sayogo said after a meeting between his commission,
\nCommission C for budgetary and financial affairs and the City
\nLand Transportation Agency (DLLAJ).<\/p>\n
He said the council would discuss the proposal with the
\nIndonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and the city's
\nOrganization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) before
\nmaking any decision on the increase.<\/p>\n
He said the council would also consider the rise which had
\nunofficially been imposed by bus drivers, as it was not as high
\nas the governor's proposal.<\/p>\n
\"We will come to a conclusion on the amount of the increase on
\nSaturday at the latest after the council leadership's meeting,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
Sayogo said the administration hoped the council could decide
\nits stance soon as city governor Sutiyoso would sign the decree
\non the bus fare increase on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said that he could understand the governor's wish to
\nexpedite it as the bus drivers and operators had threatened to
\nconduct a strike or arbitrarily increase the fares on Monday, if
\nthe administration did not raise the fares.<\/p>\n
Under the government's proposal, the current bus fares, which
\nare between Rp 500 and Rp 2,500, will increase to between Rp
\n1,000 and Rp 3,500, while students, who now pay Rp 200, will have
\nto pay Rp 300 each.<\/p>\n
The drivers are now charging passengers about 30 percent on
\ntop of previous fares since the government announced the fuel
\nprice increase on June 15.<\/p>\n
Thursday's meeting also discussed the possibility that the
\nadministration give a subsidy to bus operators because the
\nimplementation of a similar subsidy promised by the central
\ngovernment is still unclear.<\/p>\n
But city officials rejected the idea for fear that other
\npeople, such as kerosene users would also demand a similar
\nsubsidy.<\/p>\n
Separately, City Governor Sutiyoso admitted that he was still
\nat a loss about the subsidy for bus operators, which was promised
\nby the central government.<\/p>\n
He claimed that the administration had sought clarity from the
\ncentral government but to no avail.<\/p>\n
\"Imagining (receipt of) the subsidy is like imagining the moon
\nfalling to earth. That's our conclusion,\" Sutiyoso told reporters
\nat City Hall on Thursday.<\/p>\n
DLLAJ's chief Rustam Effendy revealed that the disbursement of
\nthe subsidy from the government, which was reported to reach Rp
\n216 billion, was still unclear.<\/p>\n
\"We have had several meetings, but its still unclear when and
\nhow it will be disbursed,\" Rustam said.<\/p>\n
He said the bus operators had decided to reject the subsidy
\nbecause of its ambiguity and to instead demand the increase in
\nbus fares. (jun)<\/p>",
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