PPD may make profit with express fleet<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned bus company, Perusahaan
\nPengangkutan Djakarta (PPD), would make money and avoid financial
\nlosses only if it scraps aging buses and operates more express
\nair-conditioned ones, an expert said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Herdjan Kenasin, the president of the Jakarta-based Trisakti
\nTransport Management College, told The Jakarta Post that the
\nexpress fleet is easier to control than a regular one, which
\nforces bus crews to rent and cram public buses with as many
\npassengers as they can.<\/p>\n
It is common practice here to execute the so-called `setoran'
\npayment in which a vehicle owner leases his car to a driver who
\nin turn has to pay a certain amount of money per day.<\/p>\n
Herdjan underlined the importance of employing professional
\nmanagers to run the company to help improve both its financial
\nperformance and public services, rather than just relying on
\nmediocre government officials.<\/p>\n
\"But we just cannot blame former executives of PPD for its
\nrundown performance,\" he said, adding quickly that PPD slowly was
\ndrowning due to acute mismanagement following the company's
\nacquisition of financially-troubled private-run companies in the
\n1970s.<\/p>\n
He said the merger had burdened PPD with enormous debts as
\nwell as a fleet of aging buses along with their crews.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said on Tuesday
\nthat PPD is the only financially-troubled state-owned enterprise
\nof 17 companies under his supervision.<\/p>\n
As of this year, Haryanto said, the PPD had suffered Rp 14
\nbillion (US$6.7 million) in financial losses, far above the
\naccepted level of Rp 1.9 billion.<\/p>\n
\"If we don't stop it, it will possibly reach between Rp 16
\nbillion and Rp 18 billion at the end of this year,\" the minister
\nsaid in Bandung, West Java on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
As if referring to the poor management, Haryanto reshuffled
\nthe top management of the PPD earlier this month, inducting Brig.
\nGen. (ret) Soedarko as its new president replacing Col. Yahya
\nSubandi.<\/p>\n
Another serviceman, Col. Djatisantoso, as well as Nur Usman,
\nPrijo Soebiandono and Anwar Delmy, were inducted as PPD managers,
\nrespectively, in charge of operations, finance, technique and
\ngeneral affairs.<\/p>\n
The new management has not been available for comment over the
\npast two days.<\/p>\n
Herdjan, himself a former senior official of the ministry,
\ndeclined to comment about the outgoing as well as the new line-
\nup.<\/p>\n
Idle<\/p>\n
He just said that PPD failed to maintain all its burdens over
\nthe last two decades due to a lack of professionalism and poor
\nlaw enforcement. \"It's better for the new team to concentrate on
\noperating more express air-conditioned buses,\" he reiterated.<\/p>\n
In a related development, city councilor Muhammad Rodja
\nquestioned the management of PPD when confronted with the fact
\nthat one third of its 1,400-bus fleet are now idle.<\/p>\n
Official data say that PPD's total fleet consists of 1,400
\nbuses but sources close to the PPD estimate that PPD operates
\nonly around 900.<\/p>\n
\"The standard for the number of vehicles being repaired is
\nbetween 10 and 15 percent of the total fleet. PPD's maintenance,
\nwhich reaches over 30 percent, is too high,\" Rodja said
\nyesterday, adding that Jakarta still needs thousands more public
\nbuses.<\/p>\n
Without feeling surprised, Herdjan simply said the number is a
\ngood reflection of PPD's sickness, adding that to repair all 300
\nrequires a huge amount of money.<\/p>\n
Yahya Subandi, the former president of PPD, said that the
\ncurrent assets of PPD reach to more than Rp 100 billion with 15
\nbus stations throughout the Greater Jakarta area.<\/p>\n
Yahya was starting to privatize parts of the company's
\noperation before he was replaced by Soedarko. (09)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ppd-may-make-profit-with-express-fleet-1447893297",
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