Minivan drivers stage rally at council offices<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
Some 1,000 public minivan drivers in Tangerang municipality drove
\naround the city in convoy before staging a protest on Monday in
\nfront of the municipal administration and Tangerang Council
\nbuilding over the relocation of a bus terminal from Cimone to
\nPoris Plawad.<\/p>\n
The protest left thousands of passengers stranded on the
\nstreets. They had to walk to reach their destinations or take
\nojek (motorcycle taxis).<\/p>\n
The drivers started their protest at around 11:30 a.m. after
\ndriving around in convoy, but were banned from entering the
\nadministrative compound by security guards. They demanded that
\nthe administration review its policy and return the bus terminal
\nto Cimone.<\/p>\n
\"We have been losing passengers since the Poris Plawad bus
\nterminal started operating more than a week ago. Every bus stops
\nat the new terminal,\" Junaidi, one of the drivers, told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Most public minivans can only stop at the Cimone bus terminal
\nbut passengers must continue their journey to Poris Plawad bus
\nterminal to get city buses. Only certain public minivans are
\nallowed to enter Poris and this has caused resentment among other
\ndrivers. On Sunday evening, they attacked three public minivan
\ndrivers who have access to the new terminal.<\/p>\n
Passengers had earlier complained about the relocation of the
\nbus terminal, saying they had to spend more time and money on
\npublic minivans to transfer them from Cimone to Poris Plawad.<\/p>\n
Ade, 20, a resident of Bandar village, Cikupa, said that she
\nusually paid Rp 1,000 (12 U.S. cents) from Jatake and just needed
\n30 minutes to reach Cimone bus terminal.<\/p>\n
\"Now I have to spend Rp 2,500 and it's a one hour trip to get
\nto Poris,\" she groaned.<\/p>\n
Bus drivers also complained about the new terminal's location,
\nsaying that they had to pass along congested Jl. Sudirman to
\nreach the terminal.<\/p>\n
\"With vendors occupying half of the road in front of the
\nCikokol market in the morning, we can only get a few passengers
\neven if we've been waiting at the terminal for an hour,\"
\ncomplained bus driver Priyono.<\/p>\n
Only intercity buses are available inside the new terminal.
\nCity buses drivers prefer to make a U-turn at the Cikokol flyover
\nor at the intersection of Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl. Imam Bonjol.<\/p>\n
The public minivan drivers said they would continue their
\nprotest on Tuesday as no administration officials or councillors
\nmet them during their protest.<\/p>",
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