'Becak' drivers fight to recover their vehicles

'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)