200 public transportation vehicles lose permits

JAKARTA (JP): The City Land Transportation Control Agency (DLLAJ) has temporarily revoked the operational permits of 200 public transportation vehicles for various violations over the last four months.

The head of DLLAJ's public transportation control department, Oerianto, said yesterday that the vehicles were all impounded at a pool in East Jakarta.

"Their permits have been revoked for two weeks," he said.

"Sixty-eight of the vehicles are taxis and the remaining 132 vehicles are large buses, minibuses and minivans," he said.

Oerianto said that most of the bus licenses were revoked because their drivers were dropping off passengers before their final destinations, while the cabbies were penalized for refusing to use their meters.

Many buses cut their routes short in order to pick up more passengers and make more money to pay their rents, he said, adding that drivers often use traffic jams as an excuse to do so.

He said that two-week punishment might be too light for the vehicle owners.

"They may get one-month in the future," he said.

City Council speaker M.H. Ritonga supports the agency's plan to uphold the regulation.

"It's good that the agency has impounded the vehicles," M.H. Ritonga said.

Users of public transportation regularly complain about poor service and being forced to get off one bus and having to pay to get on another. (yns)