Harsh measures planned against balky commuters<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): City Police plan to take harsh action against
\ncommuters who enter or exit public vehicles at prohibited places.<\/p>\n
"A violator will face a maximum imprisonment of three months
\nor a fine of Rp 50,000 (US$23) as stipulated by City Regulation
\nNo. 9 issued in 1992 on Traffic and Land Transportation," head of
\nthe City Traffic Police Directorate Col. Soeroso told reporters
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Soeroso, however, refused to disclose when the plan will take
\neffect. "This has already been approved, meaning that we have to
\ndo it as soon as possible," he said simply.<\/p>\n
The coordination with related parties, including the
\nprosecutor's office and the Traffic and Land Transportation
\nControl Agency (DLLAJ), is still underway to decide what type of
\n"harsh action" would be imposed on violators, he said.<\/p>\n
The idea to also punish errant commuters came from many city
\nminibus drivers who were staging the sit-in strikes, which have
\nlasted three days.<\/p>\n
Most of the striking drivers complained about the unfair
\ntreatment inherent in the traffic law whereby police ticket the
\ndrivers without trying to discover the main cause of the
\nviolation.<\/p>\n
"My friend was ticketed for violating the closed-door policy
\njust because a passenger forced him to get off at a prohibited
\npoint," Mohamad Nur, a driver of Kopaja, told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Based on the new fine scale, violators for such an offense are
\nliable to be fined Rp 125,000 compared to the previous Rp
\n15,600.<\/p>\n
Unfair<\/p>\n
The massive strikes were staged by drivers of the 12- and 30-
\nseat minibuses beginning Tuesday to protest the new tariff scale,
\nespecially the one set for the closed-door rule, as well as the
\nunfair police practices in ticketing the violators, particularly
\nthe bus drivers.<\/p>\n
"The police never gave us a chance to explain what caused us
\nto violate the regulations," said Hasonangan, another driver who
\njoined the strike Wednesday. "They just stop us, take our
\ndocuments and write down the type of violation according to their
\nown version without bothering to listen to our explanations."<\/p>\n
"Let the court make the final decision," Soeroso said. The
\njudges, he said, could realistically impose a fine of between Rp
\n5,000 and Rp 6 million on a violator of the closed-door policy
\nbecause the maximum fine for traffic violation as stipulated in
\nTraffic Law No. 14 issued in 1992 is Rp 6 million.<\/p>\n
Soeroso is a former head of the traffic directorate at the
\nNorth Sumatra police headquarters. He has held his current post
\nfor the past two months.<\/p>\n
The new fine scale, effective as of Sept. 1 and fully
\nsupported by the government, is strongly believed to have been
\nproposed by Soeroso.<\/p>\n
During the first seven days of the implementation of the new
\nfine scale, police data revealed that a total of 5,097 traffic
\nviolators, mostly city bus drivers, were ticketed in and around
\nthe city.<\/p>\n
Most of them were found in violation of the closed-door
\npolicy, said Maj. Basri Jatoko, an officer of the traffic
\ndirectorate.<\/p>\n
Head of the drivers' license unit Maj. Anton Bachrul Alam said
\nthat the number of applicants for drivers' licenses has
\nsignificantly increased over the last few days.<\/p>\n
"Most of them applied for drivers' licenses for public buses,"
\nhe said. (bsr)<\/p>",
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