'Don't burden people with new parking system'<\/p>\n
The city administration plans to launch a new on-street parking
\nsystem next month in a bid to raise more parking revenue for its
\ncoffers. Parking attendants expressed their objection as the new
\nsystem would decrease their income. They claimed that they must
\ngive each day a percentage of the money collected from the
\nparking fees to city officials and police, as told to The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Erfan, 27, is an freelance parking attendant working with his
\nfellow friends in Slipi Jaya, West Jakarta. He resides in
\nKemanggisan, West Jakarta with his family:<\/p>\n
As a parking attendant here, I am completely at odds with the
\nnew system parking. The system will only harm low-income people
\nlike me.<\/p>\n
The city government only thinks of their own benefit without
\nthinking about the poor. The city officials do not consider the
\nopportunity for poor people.<\/p>\n
Honestly speaking, on average I only earn around Rp 40,000, or
\neven less, a day. That is after I hand over around Rp 50,000 to
\nthe local police and local community administration office
\n(Bimas) every day to ensure our positions here.<\/p>\n
The new system will surely favor the city administration and
\nthe company assigned to run the project. Besides, it is just
\nnonsense that the city administration gets less parking revenue.<\/p>\n
If the city administration doesn't get any revenue from
\nparking, then where does the money we hand over to the local
\noffice go then?<\/p>\n
The problem is that there is a leakage at the top level of the
\ncity in the revenue management. Every city resident believes that
\nthe city administration has abundant sources of revenue collected
\nfrom the public. So, they should not burden the public further by
\nthe new parking system just to cover the management's
\nirregularities.<\/p>\n
Ade, 19, is a parking attendant on Jl. Boulevard Kelapa
\nGading, North Jakarta. He resides in Cakung, East Jakarta with
\nhis relatives:<\/p>\n
I didn't realize that there was going to be a new parking
\nsystem in the city. But now that I do, I don't agree with
\nmechanism of a parking system as it will be burdensome,
\nparticularly for parking attendants like me.<\/p>\n
I rely on this profession to get by my in life here in the
\ncity. My relatives basically bought the rights from the previous
\ngroup of parking attendants in this area for Rp 38 million, in
\norder that we could run it.<\/p>\n
Certainly it's a big amount of money for the lucrative
\nbusiness in this area. There is no time limitation here to
\noperate.<\/p>\n
You can imagine how many years we have to be parking
\nattendants here to cover the buyout cost, if we only earn around
\nRp 50,000 a day.<\/p>\n
It's real tough to be a parking attendant. It's wrong that
\nmany believe the parking attendants earn a lot of cash every day.
\nWe have to hand out Rp 50,000 to the city administration a day.<\/p>\n
If the new parking system is implemented, I wonder how we will
\nget cash from the motorists. So, we will not get any money to
\nsurvive due to the electronic parking meters.<\/p>\n
Jafar, 25, is a parking attendant on Jl. Bekasi Barat, East
\nJakarta. He resides in Matraman, East Jakarta, with his wife and
\nson:<\/p>\n
I don't know that there will be a new parking system. However,
\nupon knowing how the system works, I completely disagree with
\nthat.<\/p>\n
It means that we will likely not get cash if we manage to use
\nthe electronic system.<\/p>\n
So, where could we get money then? Does it imply that the city
\nadministration will give us a salary every month? I don't think
\nso and I don't want it.<\/p>\n
People from low-income brackets like me are always in dire
\nneed of cash money every day. A monthly salary would not work for
\nus here.<\/p>\n
What about if my son gets sick and needs to see a doctor if I
\ndon't have cash every day? I don't know the city administration's
\nway of making public policy but surely it always makes the public
\nsuffer.<\/p>\n
We only earn around Rp 30,000 a day because we have to share
\nthree work shifts around the clock with the other fellow parking
\nattendants. Many really count on their income from parking here.<\/p>\n
We don't get much now, let alone with the new system. We pay
\nRp 36,000 every day to the city administration. Where does that
\nmoney go?<\/p>\n
-- Leo Wahyudi S<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dont-burden-people-with-new-parking-system-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }