DLLAJR 'corrupt' officials transferred<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Eighteen employees of a vehicle roadworthiness
\ntest station in Srengseng Sawah, South Jakarta, have been
\ntransferred to other posts following a thorough investigation
\ninto their alleged roles in collecting illegal levies.<\/p>\n
The head of the vehicle testing unit of the City Land
\nTransportation Agency (DLLAJR), Abubakar, said in a statement
\nreleased on Monday that the undisciplined employees were removed
\nfrom their positions on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
He, however, did not name them or say to where they had been
\nmoved.<\/p>\n
Reports of the illegal levies collection emerged last Thursday
\nafter a city councilor found that the cost for a test at the
\nSrengseng Sawah testing station had jumped to Rp 105,000
\n(US$9.75), compared to Rp 20,000 as stipulated in city regulation
\n9\/1992.<\/p>\n
Commission C for financial affairs member Asrul Harun, who
\nreportedly runs a transportation firm, claimed that he had to pay
\nsuch an amount for his car test. These included Rp 24,000 for an
\napplication form, Rp 6,000 for a car wash, Rp 5,000 for an
\nemissions test, Rp 5,000 for a speedometer test, Rp 5,000 for a
\nbrake test, Rp 5,000 for a chassis test and Rp 5,000 for a
\nheadlight test.<\/p>\n
Other additional fees were Rp 20,000 for a test result book,
\nRp 15,000 for a medicine box, Rp 1,000 for parking and Rp 5,000
\nfor the installation of a license plate, he said. There were two
\nother charges that he did not clarify.<\/p>\n
According to Abubakar, his office had never set such tariffs.<\/p>\n
\"Some of our customers have given (extra) money (to our staff)
\nbut most of them give nothing and our office has never set such
\nhigh tariffs,\" he insisted.<\/p>\n
From now on, he said, all of his personnel \"would no longer
\nwant to receive anything\" for their services.<\/p>\n
Abubakar said there were numerous opportunities to collect
\nillegal levies at the test stations because the present
\nregulations allowed other people, instead of the vehicle owners,
\nto take the cars to be tested.<\/p>\n
\"I think the malfeasance happened because the people who were
\nassigned by the owners to take the vehicles to the station wanted
\nto make some money by cooperating with the station's staff,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sharing Abubakar's view, DLLAJR head J.P. Sepang also denied
\nthe existence of widespread illegal practices. He said that
\npublic transportation vehicle drivers might have paid scalpers
\nloitering around the station to help them find a shortcut to get
\nthe services.<\/p>\n
In an attempt to meet the public complaints, Abubakar's office
\nhas decided to abolish levies which have no legal grounds,
\nincluding the Rp 2,500 for a car wash, fees of Rp 2,000 or Rp
\n3,000 (depending on the car type) for Organda (the public land
\ntransportation owners association) and Rp 1,000 for the
\ndevelopment of Organda's Jakarta chapter office.<\/p>\n
His office would also stop the prerequisite Rp 3,500 charge
\nlevied to compensate privately run PT Amanah for painting the
\nworthiness notice on the sides of vehicles.<\/p>\n
Abubakar revealed that the number of public transportation
\nvehicles tested at the stations has declined by about 30 percent
\nsince the middle of last year due to the prolonged monetary
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
\"Formerly, there were about 1,400 vehicles being tested a day
\nbut it's now only about 1,000 a day,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He estimated that the decline also reflected the sharp
\ndecrease in the number of public transportation vehicles
\ncurrently operating on the streets of the capital due to the
\nskyrocketing prices of spare parts.<\/p>\n
Of 6,318 large buses plying the city's streets, only 4,269 of
\nthem have undergone vehicle tests, while only 6,738 small buses
\nof the existing 8,141 have taken the tests. (ind)<\/p>",
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