'Angkot' owners complain

TANGERANG, West Java (JP): Owners of Angkot (public transportation minivans) here are upset at having to pay fees when their route permits expire.

An Angkot owner plying the route between Pasar Anyar and Jurumudi said that he had to pay Rp 120,000 to the Land Transportation Control Agency to renew his route permit. "We are also required to buy a sticker that costs us an additional Rp 50,000," the owner, who asked not to be identified, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Another owner said that agency officials had charged him a Rp 200,000 fee for renewing his route permit, plus another Rp 40,000 for buying a sticker.

Agency officials remained tight-lipped when asked by reporters about the complaints raised by the Angkot owners.

Kamaludin, an agency official, bluntly replied: "Don't ask me, ask the agency's chief."

The chief, Mamat Rachmad, also appeared elusive, however, saying such questions should be referred to his subordinates.

"I have many more serious problems to handle. Your questions should have been posed to my subordinates," he said. (18/bas)