Councilors slam planned toll road rate increase<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor has said that the proposed hike
\nin rates by the private company operating toll roads in Jakarta
\nwas not popular.<\/p>\n
Banjar Marpaung, chairman of the Commission D on development
\naffairs, said on Wednesday that the company must explain to the
\npublic why it is proposing the hike.<\/p>\n
\"The company must tell the House of Representatives which
\ncosts in the toll construction business have increased,\" Banjar
\nof the Golkar said.<\/p>\n
\"Personally I don't think the costs of sand, cement, wages and
\nland compensation have increased significantly in the last two
\nyears,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Banjar was responding to a statement of Minister of Public
\nWorks Radinal Moochtar, who said Tuesday that a private toll
\nconstruction company had proposed toll increases by Rp 500 (US 21
\ncents).<\/p>\n
The proposal from PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada will be
\nsubmitted to President Soeharto next month after a 6.8 km new
\nsegment from Ancol Timur to Jembatan Tiga (Pluit) starts
\noperations.<\/p>\n
Radinal said that if the rates are not increased, private
\ncompanies would be discouraged from investing in toll road
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
\"Construction of new toll roads should not lead to increases
\nin toll rates,\" Banjar said.<\/p>\n
Toll rates are used to pay for the operation and maintenance
\nof the existing highways and to provide a return on investment,
\nBanjar Marpaung, who chairs the commission in charge of
\ndevelopment affairs, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Increasing tolls to raise funds after building another
\nsegment of toll road is not right,\" Banjar said yesterday.<\/p>\n
New financial resources should be sought for new projects. The
\ngovernment-set toll rates already include profit projections.<\/p>\n
If the legislators agree, he said, the government can decide
\non the increase, which is subject to a presidential decree.<\/p>\n
However the government should set minimum time limits as to
\nwhen toll rates can be increased, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Toll users should be assured that in a given time there will
\nbe no increase in rates,\" he said.<\/p>\n
YLKI<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Consumers' Foundation noted Tuesday that an
\nincrease of 30 percent was already imposed in October, followed
\nby an increase in transportation fares in April. Its chairperson
\nhas said that the foundation is against the proposed toll hike.<\/p>\n
Banjar said that toll users do not know why they should be
\npaying more, as there is no guarantee that the toll roads are
\nfree of congestion.<\/p>\n
Users feel that a freeway should be free of obstacles, he
\nsaid. But this is not the case, much as non-AC express buses are
\nnot expressed.<\/p>\n
Banjar and the City Council Deputy Chairman, Ismunandar, said
\nseparately that without clarity on why toll rates should be
\nincreased while congestion remains the same, the public will get
\nthe impression that the government is dictated to by the private
\nsector.<\/p>\n
Ismunandar, also an executive on the central board of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party, lashed out at the proposal.<\/p>\n
\"I only ask: Do the toll roads belong to the company, the
\npublic or the government? How come every time Citra Marga
\nNusaphala Persada builds a new toll road and proposes a hike, the
\ngovernment always gives its blessing?\"<\/p>\n
The government should care more about the public, he said.<\/p>\n
In reaction to the proposal, an office worker who takes two
\nhours from Central Jakarta to get home to Bekasi, an area 30
\nkilometers east of Jakarta, said toll construction companies
\nshould not only think of profit.<\/p>\n
The Cawang - Jatibening toll road for which users pay Rp 500,
\nis clogged up by thousands of commuters living in various
\ncomplexes in Bekasi, particularly towards the toll gates, Sartika
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"It's very tiresome. The company should build more roads,\" she
\nsaid. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/councilors-slam-planned-toll-road-rate-increase-1447893297",
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