Municipality studying parking fee proposal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The municipality has yet to decide on a better
\nsystem to collect parking fees, because various proposals from
\nthe City Council are still being studied.<\/p>\n
The proposals, which include offers to manage the city's
\nparking fees by private companies, are not that easy to decide
\non, Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs, Tb.M.
\nRais said.<\/p>\n
He said yesterday that the city must be cautious in selecting
\nthe offers.<\/p>\n
\"We have to consider that the private sector is, after all,
\nseeking profits, while we have to serve the public,\" Rais said.<\/p>\n
In August of last year, the administration rejected offers by
\nthe privately owned PT Ikabina Karya Sukses, which proposed to
\nmake the collection of parking receipts attractive by providing
\nmotorists with opportunities to win prizes.<\/p>\n
One of the chronic problems of parking fee collection is the
\nreluctance of parking attendants to hand over receipts in return
\nfor fees from motorists.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 18, also last year, private firms pulled out of a bid
\nto manage the lucrative, but high-risk project to manage the
\ncity's parking fees.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Council Speaker M.H. Ritonga urged executives to
\ndecide as quickly as possible on the best parking system from the
\nproposals.<\/p>\n
\"The municipality should study the several concepts and have
\nthe courage to decide on the one it thinks is the best,\" Ritonga
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The city could then implement the system through a trial
\nperiod, Ritonga said. In any case, the decision should be made
\nimmediately, he said.<\/p>\n
The City Parking Agency has been under fire for years for its
\ninability to collect fees according to expected targets.<\/p>\n
Only 65 percent of the expected fees were collected in the
\nlast fiscal year of 1994\/1995. Expected revenue for this fiscal
\nyear is Rp 16.3 billion (US$6.9 million) for the city, with
\naround 1.9 million vehicles.<\/p>\n
A councilor once estimated some Rp 43 billion per year could
\nbe collected from only 400,000 cars parked once a day, with fees
\nof Rp 300 each.<\/p>\n
Rais also said the city would soon propose a draft on new
\nparking fees to the council.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the head of the council commission in charge of
\nrevenues, Helmy AR Syihab, said many parking tickets issued by
\nprivate parties do not have official serial numbers and are not
\nperforated by the parking agency.<\/p>\n
This leads to losses of billions of rupiah in city revenue, he
\nsaid. According to a 1994 rule, private firms issuing parking
\ntickets should pay 25 percent of their income to the City Revenue
\nAgency. (anr)<\/p>",
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