Crisis puts brakes on minivan drivers' earnings<\/p>\n
By Joko Sarwono<\/p>\n
BOGOR (JP): Public minivan drivers are hard pressed to make a
\nliving on the roads in the crisis, often taking home only enough
\nmoney to put a bowl of rice on the family dinner table.<\/p>\n
High daily rental fees of the vehicles, known locally as
\nangkot, range from Rp 30,000 to Rp 50,000, mean drivers regularly
\nreturn home with a little cash or empty-handed.<\/p>\n
Passengers are also being tight with their purse strings,
\nchoosing alternatives to public transportation to cut their
\ncosts.<\/p>\n
It is a vicious cycle leading at all points back to the
\neconomic crisis.<\/p>\n
Most drivers identify the culprit as the skyrocketing prices
\nof spare-parts, a knock-on result from the huge loss in the
\nrupiah's value and resulting spiraling costs of imported goods.<\/p>\n
Driver Endin told The Jakarta Post the high rental fees
\nsometimes forced him to ask local sidewalk food vendors to keep a
\ntab of his meals until he could afford to pay.<\/p>\n
He said he could hardly afford to feed himself, let alone
\nthink of the burden of supporting a family.<\/p>\n
\"In this kind of condition, I cannot even consider marriage. I
\nwouldn't know how to feed a prospective wife,\" the elementary
\nschool graduate said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Anto, another driver, said there was nothing unusual in
\nminivans covering 15-km routes with only three to five passengers
\nonboard.<\/p>\n
\"This lessens our daily income... since most of the day's
\nmoney is adequate only to cover the rental fees. What's left over
\nis enough only for the day's meals,\" the driver, a junior high
\nschool graduate from East Java, said.<\/p>\n
\"I could not even visit my hometown during the Idul Fitri
\nholiday to celebrate the festive season... All I did was send a
\npiece of clothing for each of my parents through a friend who
\nwent to East Java.\"<\/p>\n
Anwar, a driver serving the Pasar Anyar-Salabenda route,
\nrecounted his family's daily menu consisted of rice and salted
\nfish, when he could scrimp together enough earnings.<\/p>\n
On bad days, he, his wife and two-year-old child must settle
\nfor plain rice.<\/p>\n
\"The most important thing is that our stomachs are full,\"
\nAnwar said.<\/p>\n
\"I bring home as little as Rp 6,000 a day and have instructed
\nmy wife to be tight with money and use it as efficiently as
\npossible for our daily needs.\"<\/p>\n
His meager earnings do not cover the unforeseen, such as his
\nchild falling sick.<\/p>\n
\"I usually borrow money for medicine from the owner of the
\nminivan and then pay it back in installments. Sometimes, my boss
\nis so generous that I don't have to pay the money back.\"<\/p>\n
Dadang, who covers the Pasar Sukasari-Cisarua route,
\ncomplained the situation was exacerbated by protection money
\ndemanded by delinquent parking attendants, ticket scalpers and
\nhoodlums at bus terminals.<\/p>\n
\"These people just don't care... Because of their conduct,
\nsome of us are forced to borrow money just to enable us to cover
\nthe daily rental fees.\"<\/p>\n
He was also alarmed by last year's closure of several popular
\ndiscotheques, nightclubs and other entertainment spots in the
\npopular Puncak mountainous resort area.<\/p>\n
Muslim preachers and local residents accused them of being
\nfronts for prostitution and illegal drug transactions.<\/p>\n
They were shut indefinitely in the wake of various incidents
\nof vandalism, including the destruction of 12 establishments on
\nJuly 12.<\/p>\n
Drivers griped that only slim earnings were now available on
\nthe once popular routes to Puncak.<\/p>\n
\"The number of passengers has dropped by about 30 percent due
\nto the closure,\" Dadang said. \"Earlier, we used to make enough
\nmoney to pay the rental fees, fulfill daily necessities and,
\nmoreover, have something to spare.\"<\/p>\n
Most of the drivers said they could not consider changing jobs
\nbecause driving was all they knew.<\/p>\n
Anwar argued there was no guarantee of finding a job in
\nanother field.<\/p>\n
\"As an angkot driver, at least I know I will be able to buy
\nsome rice. I once tried to apply at other places but there were
\nno vacancies at the time.\"<\/p>\n
Dadang also felt his hands were tied. \"I might as well drive
\nthe angkot. What else can I do?\"<\/p>",
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