Bus fare hikes caused by lack of coordination
Bus fare hikes caused by lack of coordination
JAKARTA (JP): A lack of coordination between government institutions was behind the unlawful bus fare increases during the Idul Fitri holidays, the head of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), Aip Sjarifuddin, said yesterday.
Aip told reporters at the city hall that the absence of coordination was evidenced by the local administration's forcing buses to enter local bus terminals during the Idul Fitri holidays even though the directorate general of land transportation had issued a ruling limiting the number of terminals to be called on.
Bus crews had been forced to substantially raise their fares to cover extra expenses, Aip said, which included illegal fees levied at official terminals and other fees charged at other bus stations.
"Bus drivers were ordered to pay additional fees to certain officers and to preman (hoodlums) at bus terminals along the journey from Jakarta to their destinations both in Java or Sumatra," he said.
The situation was made worse by city administrations who forced buses to stop at a number of extra terminals and to pay additional levies as a means of raising extra revenue, Aip said.
He said that in Tegal, Central Java, police officers had forbidden bus drivers from stopping at a local bus terminal in order to increase the speed of traffic flow. But officers from the local administration later forced the buses to return to the terminal under an order of the regent, he said.
A regulation issued by the directorate general of land transportation reduced the number inter-city bus terminals to be called on in Java during the Idul Fitri holidays to between nine and 11, Aip said.
In practice, the buses had been forced to go through about 31 bus terminals and each terminal had asked them to pay a fee of between Rp 600 (27 US cents) and Rp 3,000 each, he said.
"That is the main reason why most bus crews violated fare regulations," he said.
Aip urged the government, especially the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Land Transportation Control Agency and security officers, to improve their coordination in order to prevent the problem from recurring in the future.
He said members of his organization had sent complaints about the additional costs they had had to pay during Idul Fitri.
"We are still collecting complaints from our members and will report them to the Ministry of Transportation in due course," he said.
Aip asked the government to pardon bus companies that had violated fare regulations where there were mitigating circumstances.
He said bus company employees sometimes faced a situation in which they could not avoid violating fare regulations.
It would be unjust, he said, to mete out the same punishments to all offending bus companies without first considering the particular nature of their infractions. (yns)