'Bemo' owners, drivers protest

'Bemo' owners, drivers protest

JAKARTA (JP): Thirty-two bemo owners and drivers asked the
Jakarta Legal Aid Office yesterday for help in demanding higher
compensation for their vehicles which are being phased out by the
municipal administration.

The administration had planned to eliminate the bemo
(three-wheeled motorized transit vehicles) by April this year,
and to introduce another means of transportation.

The administration has approved compensation payments of Rp
500,000 for each bemo, and asked the owners and drivers to
purchase new vehicles to replace them.

Yesterday the drivers and owners said they had heard that the
administration had set the down payments for new vehicles at
between Rp 4.9 million (US$2,017) and Rp 7.8 million, and monthly
installments at between Rp 700,000 and Rp 2.9 million.

The administration has yet to announce the prices of the new
transit vehicles.

The bemo drivers and owners object to the financial terms of
the deal.

"Actually we have accepted the administration's plan on
phasing out bemo. But we demand higher compensation for our
vehicles. And, if the information we got is true, the
down payments and monthly installments for the new vehicles will
be too high for us," Subyakto, a bemo owner, said.

In a statement signed by Dewi Novrianti, the Legal Aid Office
welcomed the administration's plan to replace bemo in an effort
to reduce traffic jams and air pollution.

However, the bemo's owners should get adequate compensation,
the legal aid body told The Jakarta Post. (jun)