By Multa Fidrus

By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): Violating a traffic regulation here does not
always mean that you will be ticketed as the police officer might
prefer to settle the case "amicably" with the traffic offender
having to fork out tens of thousands of rupiah.

But even if you are ticketed, you do not have to go to court
to attend the hearing and get your driver's license back as it is
likely that the officer would be more than happy to get it for
you.

And in the case of public minivan drivers in Pasar Minggu
terminal in South Jakarta, they know whom to turn to when they
are ticketed.

Meet Agus Arief, 38, a former thug at the terminal who now
acts as a middleman to help drivers dealing with officers at
police substations or with the district courts to get their
licenses back.

"I have done this job since 1990. Most police officers and
minivan drivers around the Pasar Minggu area know me and so do
the (South Jakarta) district court staff," he told The Jakarta
Post in a recent interview.

It is common practice for police officers to hold the driver's
license of a driver who is ticketed for violating traffic
regulations. In line with procedures, the police will then send
the licenses to a district court which will later hear the case
in a brief session. Drivers then may retrieve their licenses
after the hearing and pay fines which range from Rp 30,600 to Rp
50,600.

However, fulfilling the right procedures is too expensive and
time-consuming for most motorists, while for the police, it means
no money. Therefore most police officers and motorists are of one
mind. They cooperate to settle the matter out of court.

As a result, traffic signs remain the silent witnesses of
traffic violations by drivers, while Agus Arief is a living
witness of the deals struck between the violators and the
officers.

Agus is actually an employee of Purimas Jaya Cooperative, one
of public minivan operators in the city. All minivans passing the
Pasar Minggu terminal are members of this cooperative and each
time they pass the terminal they have to pay Rp 300 to the
cooperative.

"This is the fee for using the name of Purimas Jaya," Agus
said.

Every day, he has to stand and walk back and forth under the
burning sun, approaching public minivan drivers one by one just
to collect the fee.

"Most minivan drivers are reluctant to enter the terminal,
that's why I have to wait for them one by one outside the
terminal," he said.

Purimas Jaya sets a target of Rp 70,000 a day to be collected
from the drivers. If Agus is able to collect more, he is allowed
to pocket the rest.

So, in addition to receiving a monthly salary of Rp 225,000
from Purimas Jaya, Agus can also augment his income by some Rp
35,000 daily as the money he collects always exceeds the target.

He works from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except when ticketed minivan
drivers ask for his service to get back their licenses,

The father of three children said that dealing with police
officers needed a high degree of patience since he had to be
humble to beg the officers to return the drivers' licenses.

Moreover, most police officers are authoritarian, he said.

"When I meet a police officer, I have to be ready to listen to
every bad word they say to me," he said.

He said that he took on this extra job because he took pity on
the drivers.

"I just help the minivan drivers who later give me Rp 1,000
when I return their licenses," he said.

He said that if a policeman sends the license to the court,
the driver must pay a fine of at least Rp 31,000. If the police
officers cancel their tickets, drivers just need to pay between
Rp 5,000 and Rp 7,000.

However, not all police officers are willing to compromise
with drivers; some, because they are really disciplined or clean,
but others because they do not like the drivers' attitude when
they are ticketed.

"Drivers sometimes resist and offend the officers, so that it
becomes difficult for me to change the officer's mind," said
Agus, who comes from Surabaya, East Java.

When the officers refuse the bribes, he has to go to the
district court.

Holding eight licenses to be returned to drivers, Agus said
that he could handle an average of 25 licenses a week.

M. Jaelani, a driver of an M-16 minivan plying the Pasar
Minggu-Jatinegara route, said that drivers were thankful to Agus.

"We, minivan drivers, are lucky as long as Agus is still with
us. His services are required by all drivers here," Jaelani told
the Post.

Jaelani said that in a week, he was ticketed an average of
three times, for violating traffic regulations.

He said that he asked for Agus' help because if he had to go
through the correct procedures, he would have to spend Rp 150,000
out of his weekly earnings of only Rp 210,000.

He said that a public minivan driver could bring home Rp
35,000 a day at the most.

An officer at Pasar Minggu Police subprecinct said that if a
policeman canceled the ticket, this was merely for humanitarian
reasons, not because of the money.

"We realize that minivan drivers cannot earn much money. We
even know most of them share one vehicle with others. But we
cannot just let drivers violate traffic regulations," said the
officer, who requested anonymity.