'Angkot' owners want a fare rise of at least 20%
JAKARTA (JP): Owners of public transportation vans (Angkot) have demanded a fare increase of at least 20 percent for vans operating in the city following the 30 percent increase in fuel prices on Saturday.
The head of the Wahana Kalpika Cooperative (KWK) that runs 6,000 vans across the city, La Ode Jeni Hasmar, said on Sunday that his cooperative would soon propose the fare increase to the city administration.
"We heard that our vehicles were not included in the list of public transportation vehicles that would receive compensation from the central government," La Ode told The Jakarta Post.
He doubted the government would disburse the compensation money in the near future as it was still unclear how the compensation would be distributed to transportation operators.
The government has allocated only Rp 216.4 billion in compensation for public transportation operators across the country to ease the impact of the fuel price increase.
With or without compensation, La Ode said van owners, who have been badly hit by the increase in the price of spare parts, would still propose the fare increase.
The fuel price increase, he said, would trigger an increase in spare parts' prices, that would further burden public van operators.
"We are currently practicing 'cannibalism,' meaning that we take spare parts from other vans that are no longer operational, to maintain our fleet," he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of minivan drivers in Ciputat staged a strike on Saturday following the hike in fuel prices.
In the strike, which began at about 1 p.m., drivers of public transportation vans which were still operating were stopped by their colleagues, who asked them to join the protest.
The police arrested 12 people from Saturday's strike. The city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said those arrested people had forced public minivan drivers to join the strike.
Thousands of passengers were left stranded, as the Ciputat Police only sent two trucks to help transport passengers.
"The increase in fuel prices is a real blow for us," said Glori Situmorang, a minivan driver, plying the Kebayoran-Ciputat route.
He said that every day, he had to buy 40 liters of gasoline.
With the Rp 300 increase in the price of gasoline -- from Rp 1,150 to Rp 1,450 -- he now has to pay an additional Rp 12,000 a day, just for fuel.
"The fuel price increase cuts my earnings by half," said Situmorang, adding that his net income was about Rp 25,000 a day.
Unlike some bus drivers, he said he would not demand an increase in the angkot fares.
According to Situmorang, the current fare for his route, which is Rp 1,200, is good enough. The problem is, passengers often refuse to pay that much, especially if they take the minivan a short distance. Most of them, he said, paid less than Rp 1,000. (jun)