Organda abruptly cancels bus strike<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Unlike expected, the number of stranded
\ncommuters in the capital was minimal on Monday thanks to the
\nhasty cancellation of the planned mass strike by owners of
\nprivate city buses.<\/p>\n
Crowds of people, including those residing in the surrounding
\nareas of Tangerang and Bekasi, were stranded in the early morning
\nwhen buses failed to turn up.<\/p>\n
By 7 a.m., some commuters panicked and forced private cars and
\ntrucks to stop and give them a lift. Others got rides on buses
\nand trucks provided by the police, military and other related
\ngovernment institutions, such as state bus company Damri.<\/p>\n
According to the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the
\nOrganization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), Aip
\nSyarifuddin, the owners of private buses grouped in the
\norganization changed their minds about striking after a meeting
\nin the early hours of Monday.<\/p>\n
The last-minute decision, he said, was taken after the owners
\nagreed to wait for new bus fares to be set by the City Council.<\/p>\n
\"A strike would only burden city residents, who're our
\ncustomers,\" said Aip, who in the past few days repeatedly
\ninsisted the bus owners were serious about staging a strike.<\/p>\n
Since the cancellation of the planned strike was only decided
\nin the early hours, most bus owners failed to reach their crews
\non time to tell them to turn up for work.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he explained, it was not until 8 a.m. that most
\nprivate buses were back on the road.<\/p>\n
After the internal meeting with private bus owners, Aip then
\nattended another meeting with Governor Sutiyoso, City Council
\nspeaker Edy Waluyo and head of City Land Transportation Agency
\n(DLLAJ) Buyung Atang to discuss new bus fares.<\/p>\n
After the meeting, the governor told reporters he could
\nunderstand bus owners' demand for a hike in fares due to the
\nskyrocketing cost of their operations.<\/p>\n
\"I did indeed send a letter to the council asking for a hike
\nin bus fares in July last year,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the proposal, dated July 20, 1999, Sutiyoso requested that
\nfares be increased to Rp 500 from Rp 300 for regular economy
\nbuses, Rp 700 from Rp 500 for minibuses, Rp 200 from Rp 100 for
\nstudents and Rp 2,500 from Rp 2,300 for air-conditioned express
\nPatas AC buses. The governor also proposed the termination of
\nnon-air conditioned express Patas buses.<\/p>\n
Later in the afternoon, the City Council agreed to meet the
\nbus owners' demand for a hike in bus fares and promised to
\nannounce the new rates on Saturday at the latest.<\/p>\n
\"We need more time to study the proposals (of the governor and
\nOrganda) because so far only Commission D has studied them. The
\ncouncil will also invite the city administration and Organda to
\ndiscuss the matter together,\" council speaker Edy Waluyo
\nannounced after a meeting with chairmen of all the council's five
\ncommissions and 13 factions.<\/p>\n
Organda earlier proposed a hike to Rp 1,000 from Rp 300 for
\nregular economy buses, Rp 1,200 from Rp 500 for minibuses, Rp
\n3,250 from Rp 2,300 for Patas AC and Rp 100 from Rp 500 for
\nstudent fares.<\/p>\n
When asked about the council's belated response to Sutiyoso's
\nproposal, Edy simply said: \"The situation has changed since the
\nproposal was first delivered to the council.\"<\/p>\n
Rumor has it that the delay to approve new bus fares as
\nproposed by the governor was designed to further remove Sutiyoso
\nfrom his current post.<\/p>\n
\"It's a political game,\" a source said.<\/p>\n
Organda's proposal that import tax be eliminated for spare
\nparts to be used for public transportation has been dismissed by
\nthe Ministry of Industry and Trade.<\/p>\n
\"The import tax for vehicle spare parts is already low at
\nbetween 5 percent and 10 percent. Moreover, there are so many
\nvehicle components produced and on offer on the local markets
\nhere,\" minister Jusuf Kalla was quoted by Antara as saying on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
According to Jusuf, the proposed zero percent import tax would
\nnot solve the problems faced by Organda members because the
\nprices of car components were already high due to the weakening
\nof the rupiah against the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
The minister also voiced concern that eliminating import tax
\non spare parts would benefit certain parties or individuals, who
\nmight take the advantage of the policy to buy parts for their
\nprivate vehicles.<\/p>\n
\"Organda (members) are not alone in facing this hardship,
\nother businesses are also in the same situation,\" he said.
\n(06\/09\/nvn\/bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/organda-abruptly-cancels-bus-strike-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}