Postpone sticker plan until crisis end: Golkar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Golkar faction in the House of
\nRepresentatives added yesterday to mounting pressure on the city
\nadministration to shelve plans to introduce a traffic sticker
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) demanded that
\nPresident Soeharto rescind the decree he issued earlier this
\nmonth which endorsed the controversial plan.<\/p>\n
Golkar faction chief Irsyad Sudiro suggested that Governor
\nSutiyoso postpone the scheme, which is scheduled to be tested
\nbetween August and November, until the crippling economic crisis
\ncomes to an end.<\/p>\n
\"It would be inappropriate to further burden people who are
\nalready weighted down by the crisis,\" he said. \"Remember, not all
\nmotorists entering the restricted zone are rich.\"<\/p>\n
Plans to introduce the controversial system were put into
\nmotion following Presidential Decree No. 50, 1998, on the
\nrestricted traffic area in the city, and the 1998 Government
\nRegulation No. 45 on regional levies.<\/p>\n
The sticker system would require people wanting to travel
\nalong Jl. M.H. Thamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman between 7:30 a.m.
\nand 9:30 a.m., and between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on week days to pay
\nRp 5,000 (60 U.S. cents) for a one-day entry sticker, or Rp
\n80,000 for a one month pass.<\/p>\n
The system is intended to help alleviate chronic traffic
\ncongestion in the city center and will replace the current three-
\nin-one traffic regulation which was introduced in 1992.<\/p>\n
The three-in-one system, which requires private cars entering
\nthe restricted zone at peak times to contain at least three
\npeople, is considered to have been ineffective in dealing with
\nthe city's traffic problem.<\/p>\n
Irsyad said the city administration's determination to press
\non with the new system despite strong public objections showed
\nthat the governor was uncertain about how best to deal with
\ntraffic congestion in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono should
\nexplain the plan to the House and guarantee its effectiveness, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"If it's only designed to collect money, the plan should be
\nscrapped because not all motorists can afford to buy the
\nstickers,\" he said, as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Giri proposed on Wednesday that Sutiyoso consider a compromise
\nsolution where only cars carrying less than three people have to
\nbuy a sticker.<\/p>\n
Both Golkar and the institute agree that the administration is
\nprevented by law from collecting levies on non-toll roads like
\nJl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman.<\/p>\n
On a separate occasion, the institute's Jakarta director Apong
\nHerlina proposed that President Soeharto revoke his decree
\nbecause the public was strongly opposed to the sticker system.<\/p>\n
Besides, she said, the laws on which the President based his
\ndecree were designed to regulate the city administration's income
\ngenerating activities, not to deal with traffic congestion.<\/p>\n
Apong argued that requiring motorists to purchase stickers to
\nenter the city center was tantamount to charging levies on a non-
\ntoll road, a practice which is clearly illegal under the
\nprovisions of Law No. 14, 1992 ,on traffic and land
\ntransportation.<\/p>\n
\"The law stipulates that everybody can use roads free of
\ncharge unless the roads are designated toll roads,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"The President should therefore rescind his decree out of
\nrespect for the law.\"<\/p>\n
The institute plans to ask the Supreme Court to conduct a
\njudicial review of the disputed Presidential decree and rule on
\nwhether or not it contradicts the existing law. (ind)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/postpone-sticker-plan-until-crisis-end-golkar-1447893297",
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