Bemo ban upsets Tarimo's dreams

Bemo ban upsets Tarimo's dreams

By Ahmad Junaidi

JAKARTA (JP): Tarimo can't think clearly. His mind's in a blur and thinking of the future only makes things worse.

His anxiety began with the news that his treasured bemo will be removed from the streets. He's not sure how he'll get on with his life when the city administration's plan to ban bemo (three wheeled motorized vehicles that can carry up to seven passengers) in Jakarta becomes reality in April.

For the last 25 years Tarimo has spent every day of his life driving his old bemo along the road that stretches from the Manggarai Bus Terminal in South Jakarta to the Cipto Mangunkusumo general hospital in Central Jakarta. A diligent man, he works 12 hours a day, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Even on Sundays he drives his blue bemo.

Life has been kind to him, especially since he was able to buy his own bemo from a friend for Rp 750,000 (US$326) in 1980. Previously, he operated a relative's bemo. He then repaired and polished his bemo to make it more attractive. A 1960's make, the three-wheeled vehicle has supported his family of four and even helped him pay for his children's educations.

"My eldest son, Supriadi, is a student at Gunadarma University. My second daughter, Tri Pudjiastuti, is a high school student and my second son, Ardianto, is still in kindergarten," Tarimo, 45, said proudly.

His eldest daughter, Sri Lestari, 25, is studying at a banking academy. Tarimo hopes that Lestari will work at a bank someday and will be able to give him a soft loan to make a down payment on a new vehicle.

Tarimo never even finished elementary school, but he hopes that his children will become university graduates.

"I don't want my children to become drivers. Me is enough. It's hard to be a driver," Tarimo told The Jakarta Post.

"I want my children work in an office. In my family, I'm the only member who became a driver. My brother is a police officer," he said proudly.

All those dreams seem to have come to an end and Tarimo is now very anxious about his future.

Will he have to change from an occupation that has long fed him and his family? Driving is his only skill. What about his children's educational future? Will he still be able to finance their schooling? All those questions have kept him on edge.

Tarimo is anxious not only for himself, but for his fellow bemo drives as well. Some of them have sons and daughters studying at university.

"There are many families who depend on bemo wheels," Tarimo said. "They can get enough food, raise their children and pay for their children's education from this job.

"Some of the bemo drivers even have two to three wives," Tarimo said. He himself once had two wives, but has divorced the second one. He is still married to Surip, his Central Javanese wife for twenty five years.

He said some drivers are even university students. "They work as part-time drivers to finance their educations."

Like Tarimo, many bemo drivers now face a similar fate and questions about the future. Tarimo's burden has grown heavier now that his fellow drivers have placed their fate in his hands by appointing him as their leader in dealing with the city administration's bemo ban, which was actually announced by Governor Surjadi Soedirja last year.

After such a long delay, Tarimo, a resident of Jl. Kampung Bali Mataram, Manggarai South Jakarta, believes the city administration will not rush into executing the plan.

"I hope they postpone their plans until after the general elections next year," said Tarimo, who worked as a porter before he started driving his bemo in the early 1970s.

Most bemo drivers will fight to defend their jobs because they earn more than drivers of other public transport vehicles such as bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicles).

Tarimo earns an average of Rp 15,000 to Rp 30,000 ($6.60 to $13.33) a day. He is the sole breadwinner in his family.

Driving a bemo means more than just earning a living. It is also a form of kinship among drivers. They are very close to each other and always ready to extend a helping hand to one another. Driver often borrow bemo parts from friends if they have trouble with their vehicles.

"Friendship is important here. We help each other if we're in trouble. Especially now with the government's plan to remove bemos from the street," he said, suggesting that the city only ban bemo without licenses.

"Forty percent to 50 percent of the vehicles operating don't have licenses," he explained.

Should the ban really go into effect, Tarimo is unsure of how he and the other drivers will pay for the new minivans the city wants to use as replacements. The down payment alone is Rp 5 million while the monthly installment is between Rp 600,000 and Rp 700,000.

As a small man, there's nothing he can do if the city administration goes ahead with the plan.

"We can't fight the government. Go to court? We would lose," he said, sounding hopeless.

He sat in the back seat of his bemo, staring at the sun above the Manggarai Bus Terminal. His mind drifted to his children and how he hopes one day they will all graduate from university and become respectable individuals.

Will they or won't they? Tarimo has yet to find the answer.