Sutiyoso to spank naughty bus operators<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso threatened on Thursday to revoke the operation
\npermits of any public transportation owners who raised their
\nfares in response to the 29 percent fuel price increase announced
\non March 1.<\/p>\n
\"First, I will warn them if they raise their fares. Should
\nthey insist, I won't be reluctant to revoke their operation
\npermits,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso said he told the City Transportation Agency to step
\nup its monitoring of public transportation to ensure fares were
\nnot illegally raised.<\/p>\n
The city has not indicated if it will increase bus fares
\nfollowing the increase of fuel prices. But there have been
\nreports of bus crews in the capital charging passengers more than
\nthe official fares.<\/p>\n
Rustam Effendy Sidabutar, the head of the City Transportation
\nAgency, however, denied there was a major problem with bus crews
\nraising fares.<\/p>\n
\"Any public transportation crews raising fares must be from
\ntransportation operators whose offices are located outside the
\ncity,\" Rustam said.<\/p>\n
He said public transportation owners in Jakarta had pledged
\nnot to make any moves before the administration announced new
\ntransportation fares.<\/p>\n
The agency has set up complaint posts at bus terminals across
\nthe city and along main roads for passengers to lodge complaints
\nof illegal fare hikes.<\/p>\n
Those posts are located in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta; Ratu
\nPlaza and Pondok Pinang, South Jakarta; UKI Cawang and Orion,
\nEast Jakarta; Plumpang and Permai, North Jakarta; and in Citra
\nLand and Jl. S. Parman, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Passengers can also contact the agency at (021) 3457471 to
\nfile complaints.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post reported on Wednesday several Metromini buses
\ntraveling between Pondok Kopi and Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta,
\na public minivan traveling from Kampung Melayu to Pasar Minggu in
\nSouth Jakarta, and Metromini buses on routes between Depok and
\nGrogol, and Kebayoran Lama and Ciputat, had raised their fares.<\/p>\n
The administration announced on Thursday it had 111 trucks and
\nbuses from the military and 250 buses from the City Tourism
\nAgency and the Public Order Agency at the ready in case of a
\ntransportation strike.<\/p>\n
Rustam said there were fears of a strike as public
\ntransportation crews grew more vociferous in their protests over
\nthe fuel price increase.<\/p>\n
\"We fear that public transportation crews will not go along
\nwith their employers,\" he said.<\/p>",
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