'Becak' drivers fight to recover their vehicles

JAKARTA (JP): Becak (pedicab) drivers and owners will sue Governor Sutiyoso and the capital's five mayors for seizing their 100 vehicles without proper warrants, a lawyer said Monday.

Lawyer Tubagus HK from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said his office, to which pedicab drivers and owners have given power of attorney, learned that their clients were never issued warrants for the confiscation of their three-wheeled vehicles.

"A lawsuit will be filed (some time) this month," Tubagus told The Jakarta Post after a meeting with 20 representatives of the pedicab drivers and owners.

According to the representatives, the city must immediately return their vehicles, which are in a locked warehouse in Cakung, North Jakarta, since they were confiscated by public order officials in raids in June, July and August.

The pedicab drivers and owners are fearful that their vehicles will be privately sold by public order staff.

In an attempt to express their seriousness, the drivers and owners plan to stage a protest in front of the warehouse on Tuesday, said the group's spokesman, Mukri.

"We sold our belongings to purchase pedicabs. It (pedaling pedicabs to earn a living) is halal (permitted under Islamic law) work. Also, it's a good alternative during this time of crisis," Mukri, whose 10 pedicabs were confiscated in the raids, said.

"But why has the city administration banned us?" he questioned.

During the planned rally, he and his colleague will repeat their demand that the city administration revoke the 1988 City Bylaw No. 11 which bans pedicabs from operating in Jakarta, he said.

His colleagues, Mukri said, vowed to continue protesting at the warehouse unless the authorities returned their pedicabs.

According to him, the Monday meeting with LBH lawyers was also called in preparation for the scheduled rally.

The pedicab issue returned to haunt the city administration when Governor Sutiyoso on June 24 -- in response to a reporter's question -- said that in order to provide job opportunities during the crisis, he would permit pedicabs to operate again after a 10-year ban.

His remarks opened the floodgates for a deluge of pedicabs from as far away as Central Java.

Six days later, the governor backtracked on his decision on the grounds that the drivers had violated regulations on restricted areas by operating not only in alleys and on small streets, but on major thoroughfares as well.

Some pedicabs can still be seen around the capital, particularly in Central and West Jakarta.

Erik, one of the pedicab drivers who visited the LBH office Monday, said that some of the confiscated pedicabs had been sold at attractive prices by public order personnel.

A pedicab currently parked on the grounds of the LBH office, for example, was bought from an officer of the South Jakarta Public Order office, Erik said.

"We have reported the matter to the police. But there has been no response," he explained.

Using funds from the LBH office, he and his friends purchased the pedicab, believed to have been seized from an area in Tebet, South Jakarta, for Rp 180,000 at the officer's house in Pondok Gede, Bekasi, last August, Erik recalled.

He, however, refused to identify the officer.

"Actually, we wanted to buy three pedicabs. But the other two had already been sold by the officer," Erik, whose only pedicab was seized in July, said.

A new pedicab costs between Rp 400,000 and Rp 600,000. (jun)