Eighteen bidders pull out of parking tender<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Eighteen private companies have withdrawn their
\nbids from the potentially lucrative, yet high risk, project of
\nmanaging the city's parking facilities.<\/p>\n
\"Most had thought that parking management is a lucrative
\nbusiness. But after exploring the prospects, they changed their
\nminds,\" Sumaryono, head of the city's parking management agency,
\nBP Parkir, said.<\/p>\n
One bidder, who remains in competition, has even promised that
\nit can meet the revenue targets set by the Municipality,
\nSumaryono told reporters in his office on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He declined to name the company.<\/p>\n
The thought that more than 1.5 million vehicles are parked in
\nvarious places in Jakarta every day is very alluring from a
\nbusiness point of view. But the reality is that parking
\nmanagement is not easy, he pointed out.<\/p>\n
BP Parkir manages most of the city's parking facilities,
\nincluding those along main roads and some off the main roads.
\nHowever, the areas it controls are shrinking with more and more
\nmain roads declared no-parking zones. In some cases the agency
\nsub-contracts areas to local people and collects the funds at the
\nend of the month.<\/p>\n
City authorities are considering bringing in the private
\nsector, in the management of parking facilities, after the city's
\nown agency failed to live up to expectations amidst allegations
\nthat some of the funds had been misappropriated.<\/p>\n
Sumaryono said he personally did not favor the plan to
\nprivatize the management because of fears that his agency's 3,250
\nemployees might be laid off.<\/p>\n
However, on a separate occasion, Vice Governor for the Economy
\nand Development TB Rais stressed that the parking management
\nwould not be entirely privatized but rather the private sector
\nbrought in under a revenue-sharing scheme.<\/p>\n
Rais told reporters yesterday that such a cooperation is
\nexpected to improve the management, and make it more efficient so
\nthat the revenue target will be met.<\/p>\n
He said BP Parkir repeatedly fell behind targets because of
\nleaks in its financial management. With a more effective
\nmanagement, the target could be reached even with a parking fee
\nof Rp 300 an hour, he said confidently.<\/p>\n
The Municipality has set a Rp 14.6 billion revenue target from
\nparking fees in the 1994\/95 fiscal year, which ends on March 31.
\nBut in the nine months to December, BP Parkir had only raised Rp
\n9 billion and is likely to fall short once again. In 1993\/94, BP
\nParkir managed to collect Rp 9 billion, well below the Rp 11.6
\nbillion target.<\/p>\n
Each year, despite consistently falling short, the city has
\nset a 20 percent increase in revenues from parking fees. In
\n1995\/96 it has set the target at Rp 16.3 billion, for 1996\/97 Rp
\n22.8 billion and 1997\/98 Rp 29.1 billion.<\/p>\n
These targets are apparently what put off many of the bidders.<\/p>\n
Sumaryono acknowledged that the chief problem in parking
\nmanagement is in controlling the funds, given that parking
\nattendants do not always give out tickets while some motorists
\nalso failed to insist on tickets.<\/p>\n
BP Parkir, he said, decided to drop the use of tickets in some
\nareas and simply set a daily rent for each attendant. \"But even
\nthis system has been objected to by some attendants,\" he said.
\n(emb)<\/p>",
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