A stitch in time

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.