500 'ojek' drivers in airport protest

TANGERANG: Some 500 ojek or motorcycle taxi drivers have planned to stage a rally in protest of the decision by PT Angkasa Pura, the Sukarno-Hatta International Airport management, to close the M1 Gate on a secondary road that links Tangerang city to the airport, beginning May 21 for security reasons.

"We (ojek drivers) are small people who earn our daily bread at the airport to support our families. But if the management closes the M1 gate to us, we'll no longer have access the airport," Sarmili, one of the drivers told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said that he could see no reason for the closure because it was an alternative route to the airport and it helped ease traffic congestion along Jl. Daan Mogot heading to the airport.

"Angkasa Pura also receives additional income because every car that passes through the gate must pay Rp 2,000," he added.

Commenting on the ojek drivers' threat to stage the rally, airport police chief Adj. Comr. Sri Suari Wahyudi said that they could only stage a rally as long as they held it legally.

However, she warned that airport was a restricted area for any demonstrations and if ojek drivers staged a rally at the airport, the police would take stern measures. "The presence of ojek drivers at airport terminals I, II and III had added to public disorder," she said.--JP