Organda ready to help 'bemo' vechicle owners<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The organization of public transportation owners
\nis urging bemo (three-wheel vehicles) owners to use the
\norganization to settle their disputes and address their concerns.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the organization, Aip Syarifuddin, said
\nyesterday that the owners need to discuss their worries about the
\nfuture of their bemo, which will soon be replaced by minivans.<\/p>\n
\"If they feel that the price of the minivans, the monthly
\ninstallments and the down payments are too high, they should
\ndiscuss it with us. We will help them negotiate with the vehicle
\ndistributors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aip said that the owners have the power to bargain with the
\ndistributors to get lower prices. He also said that bemo owners
\nhave the right to refuse to buy new vehicles to replace their
\nbemo.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, on behalf of some 29 bemo drivers, the Jakarta
\nLegal Aid Institute submitted a judicial review to the Supreme
\nCourt yesterday, expecting that it would end the protracted
\ndispute over phasing out the use of the three-wheeled motorized
\npublic transport on the city's streets.<\/p>\n
Representing the drivers, lawyer Hotma Timbul Hutapea told
\nreporters that conflicting decisions as well as regulations
\nunderlie the bemo dispute.<\/p>\n
In March, the city administration decided to replace more than
\n1,000 bemo operating in the city with other vehicles because they
\nwere no longer considered appropriate as means of public
\ntransportation.<\/p>\n
Hotma cited a letter issued by the head of the Jakarta City
\nand Land Transportation Agency this year which said that bemo
\nwere prohibited from operating in the Greater Jakarta vicinity
\ndue to their old condition.<\/p>\n
A government regulation issued in 1993, however, specifically
\nclassified bemo as a mean of public transport.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that this judicial review sets an example of social
\ncontrol in monitoring conflicting laws and regulations issued,\"
\nHotma said.<\/p>\n
Crowding a conference room at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute,
\ndrivers said they felt trapped in the game of city
\nadministration's unclear procedures, such as handling documents,
\ndown payments and monthly installments.<\/p>\n
\"We have been ping-ponged all over the place, and we end up
\nwith no more clarity than where we started from,\" a driver who
\nrequested anonymity said.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the unclear amount of compensation, the
\nexorbitant prices of alternative vehicles and unrealistic monthly
\ninstallment plan.<\/p>\n
There are three types of replacement vehicles that are being
\noffered, with down payments ranging from Rp 4 million to Rp 9
\nmillion and monthly installments between Rp 700,000 and Rp 2.9
\nmillion, all too high for bemo drivers to manage.<\/p>\n
They said the vehicles could only be purchased from certain
\ndealers at the price of Rp 38.5 million. On the open market, they
\nadded, these vehicles would probably cost half as much.<\/p>\n
\"Isn't it ironic, in this period when national policy is
\naiming at producing cheaper cars, we, already powerless and poor,
\nare hard-pressed to pay for expensive vehicles,\" another added.<\/p>\n
Drivers said that in general, they supported the bemo
\neradication policy, but lamented the small compensation provided
\nby the administration for their submitted bemo.<\/p>\n
They said it would not be too hard if they were to pay a total
\nof Rp 18 million with a 6 percent yearly interest rate for the
\nnew vehicles. (yns\/14)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/organda-ready-to-help-bemo-vechicle-owners-1447893297",
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