A stitch in time

Governor Sutiyoso's tardiness in issuing a decree on public transportation fares following the recent increase in fuel prices reflects his inability to manage the situation. Sutiyoso has yet to demonstrate how he is going to cope with the impact of the hike in fuel prices, and telephone and electricity charges that the government announced earlier this month.

The city administration has still not decided on new public transportation fares while the bus companies have so far been patient enough to hold back from increasing fares.

Sutiyoso has called on public transportation companies and crews not to raise fares by more than 10 percent, and he has ordered the head of the City Transportation Office to take resolute action against those who do not comply.

But appeals and threats will not be enough. Or maybe Sutiyoso merely wants to demonstrate his authority through such threats.

While no single citizen is able to force the government to annul its decision on utility prices, no single government institution or official, including Sutiyoso, will be able to stop public transportation operators from increasing fares as they like.

Passengers must now pay Rp 1,700, Rp 200 higher than the previous fare, to go by Mikrolet (twelve-seat minibus) from Tanah Abang to downtown Kota.

The Mayasari Bakti expresses plying the Pulo Gadung-Grogol route have also increased their fares from Rp 1,200 to Rp 1,400 without the approval of the authorities. The long-suffering passengers have no choice but to accept the new fares.

The governor, like many other Indonesian officials, loves to bluff. We will just have to wait and see what Sutiyoso will do to those bus crews who have increased their fares by more than 10 percent over the old tariffs in defiance of the governor's appeal.

Sutiyoso should have been wiser and more aware that this is not the right time to bluff and threaten. Punishment will not make any difference as it will not solve the problem.

Prohibiting bus crews from raising their fares means condemning the bus operators to a slow death as the prices of spareparts and the cost of living have also increased.

One driver of a bus plying the Ciputat-Tanah Abang route has complained about the drop in his daily earnings. He has to take cut his daily income to buy diesel. Before the fuel price hikes he usually spent Rp 65,000 on diesel every day. Now he has to spend Rp 115,000, or Rp 40,000 more than usually spent, while the bus operator doesn't care about this.

What the city administration should have done is issue a decree on new bus fares soon after the announcement of the fuel price hikes were announced, or subsidize the transportation companies.

The chairman of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda)'s Jakarta chapter, Aip Sjarifuddin, confirmed that his organization had submitted an official request for new fares.

As it is, the city administration's stance in anticipating the impact of the fuel price hikes seems to reflect Sutiyoso's ignorance of the needs of the grassroots population of Jakarta.

After all, no one will believe that Sutiyoso was not informed about the government's plan to raise utility prices.

Anyone could have predicted that the controversial decision would trigger street demonstrations and protests. And public transportation strikes would be among the most serious possibilities that should have been taken into account by the administration, as civil commotion and violence could result.

Unfortunately, the city administration does not seem to have learned from experience. As we have seen from many cases in the recent past, heated street demonstrations can easily turn into violence, especially once scuffles between the demonstrators and police officers break out.

We hope, though, that at this stage Sutiyoso has learnt enough not to make any more unnecessary mistakes. As a former chief of the Jakarta Military Command, the governor should be fully aware that any violence can lead to shooting. And a single bullet fired in the melee could quickly become a serious tragedy that could rock the country's political and economic stability.

Sutiyoso will do well to think twice about the present situation. The demonstrations protesting the price hikes have been growing bigger.

The governor could have appeased public anger at least a little if he had taken the prudent step of dealing with the public transportation problem a little sooner after the fuel price hikes were announced. A stitch in time saves nine, as they say.