Illegal fees squeeze bus drivers<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Public bus drivers are forced to pay, on average, up to Rp
\n40,000 for legal and illegal fees each day, a factor that has
\ncaused their services and safety to worsen, a survey reveals.<\/p>\n
The survey, which was conducted by the Public Interest
\nResearch and Advocacy Center (Pirac), a non-governmental
\norganization dealing with public interests, shows that 65 percent
\nof drivers of medium and large city buses in Jakarta must dole
\nout between Rp 5,000 and Rp 20,000 per day for legal fees, while
\n62 percent of them paid a similar amount to "certain groups" in
\nillegal fees as well.<\/p>\n
"Too many legal and illegal fees which must be paid by the
\ndrivers have badly affected the city bus services, causing
\nfrequent complaints from the public," say Pirac's executive As'ad
\nNugroho at a seminar to announce the survey results on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The survey further demonstrated that the woeful quality of the
\ntransportation services could be seen, among others, from the
\nbehavior of drivers on the streets, the deteriorating buses, the
\ncondition of tires and other crucial parts that have not been
\nreplaced or maintained on the buses.<\/p>\n
As an example, the ideal for city buses is less than seven-
\nyears-old, but from the survey it was seen that 85 percent of the
\ncity buses have been in service for more than seven years. Some
\nhave even been operating since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
The survey also shows that many bus operators have to
\ncannibalize parts because they cannot afford to buy new ones.<\/p>\n
The survey was conducted at seven bus terminals -- Grogol and
\nKota in Central Jakarta; Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta; Ragunan
\nand Manggarai in South Jakarta, Klender and Kampung Melayu in
\nEast Jakarta -- and involved 150 drivers from 11 companies:
\nMetromini, Kopaja, PPD, Mayasari, Steady Safe, AJ. A Putra,
\nHimpurna, Jasa Utama, Agung Baru, Dian Mitra and Kopami Jaya.<\/p>\n
Nugroho said that the supposedly legal fees paid by the
\ndrivers were too high, as the existing regulation says the fee
\nshould be only Rp 150 for large buses and Rp 100 for medium size
\nbuses per trip to the bus terminals. Every bus enters the
\nterminals, on average, 10 times a day.<\/p>\n
"If a bus enters a terminal 10 times a day, a driver should
\npay only Rp 1,500 for big buses and Rp 1,000 for the others. But
\nin practice they are made to pay 5 to 20 times that," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/illegal-fees-squeeze-bus-drivers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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