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)