Motorists enjoy free parking facilities<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While a parking dispute is being tried at the
\nJakarta State Administrative Court, motorists can enjoy free
\nparking at several private parking lots until a ruling is issued
\non the case.<\/p>\n
As of Thursday, hundreds of visitors at Taman Anggrek Mall in
\nWest Jakarta, Medistra Hospital and Plaza Kuningan in South
\nJakarta were surprised when parking attendants allowed them to
\nleave without paying for parking.<\/p>\n
At Taman Anggrek Mall, motorists were surprised to see
\nattendants rejecting payments for parking, even though they
\noffered money.<\/p>\n
The attendants' actions made many motorists leave parking
\nareas bewildered.<\/p>\n
"I was surprised. But I'm grateful anyway that there is no
\nneed for me to pay any parking fees," said motorist Benjamin from
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The official parking fee for a vehicle is Rp 200, but the mall
\ncharges visitors Rp 500 per hour.<\/p>\n
At Plaza Kuningan and Medistra Hospital, security officials,
\nwho are also in charge of parking, gave out parking tickets to
\nmotorists as usual. But when vehicles were driven off the lot,
\nthe guards only asked for the tickets back and not any fees.<\/p>\n
"We have not charged visitors since Tuesday. Dozens of city
\nadministration officials and the city police came to the building
\non Monday night and sealed off the booths of the parking lots,"
\nsaid Ngadino, a senior security officer at Plaza Kuningan.<\/p>\n
Hasbullah, a parking attendant at Taman Anggrek Mall, said the
\nparking operator for the building, PT Mulia Inti Pelangi, had
\ndecided to free motorists from all parking charges since
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
"The officials sealed off the equipment at the building on
\nTuesday night. Parking was free on Wednesday and today
\n(Thursday), but we don't know about tomorrow," he said.<\/p>\n
The city administration sealed off the equipment of three
\nparking lots on Monday and Tuesday respectively as they had
\nfailed to adjust their parking fees in conjunction with official
\nfees as stipulated in City Bylaw No. 5\/1999 on parking, which is
\nto be enforced by the end of May at the latest.<\/p>\n
Gubernatorial Decree No. 1698\/1999 stipulates that parking
\nfees for cars are to be set at Rp 1,000 (13 US cents) for the
\nfirst two hours and Rp 500 for each hour thereafter.<\/p>\n
The city administration has so far sealed off the equipment of
\nfour parking lots: Taman Anggrek Mall, Medistra Hospital, Plaza
\nKuningan and PT Adi Graha.<\/p>\n
The city administration is serious with its efforts to ensure
\noperators comply with the city bylaw, and it has produced two
\nposters, which are displayed at strategic areas on parking sites.
\nThe first poster is a parking policy announcement and the second
\nwarns defiant operators.<\/p>\n
Plaza Kuningan, for example, violated the ruling by setting
\nparking fees for cars at Rp 1,500 for the first two hours and Rp
\n500 for each successive hour.<\/p>\n
Strict measures were taken at Taman Anggrek Mall as officials
\nstuck posters on computers and parking ticket dispensers in the
\nbuilding's Blue Zone-P2 parking lot, which is the main gate of
\nthe building.<\/p>\n
Despite the two posters, another was issued by the Jakarta
\nState Administrative Court, saying the city administration could
\nnot take any measures, including sealing off equipment, as the
\ncase was being tried at court.<\/p>\n
The notice was signed by the case's presiding judge, Arpani
\nMansur.<\/p>\n
A security officer at Plaza Kuningan denied any knowledge over
\nthe notice, which was next to the other two posters.<\/p>\n
William Gunawan, a visitor at Plaza Kuningan, supported the
\nadministration's bid to punish defiant operators.<\/p>\n
"Although the former parking fee wasn't expensive for me, it
\nis good if the administration insists on maintaining an official
\nfee," he said.<\/p>\n
City parking agency chief Yani Mulyadi told Antara news agency
\non Wednesday that the city administration would seal off the
\nequipment at three other parking lots in the near future.
\n(09\/asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/motorists-enjoy-free-parking-facilities-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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