City Council abjures parking management plan
JAKARTA (JP): City Council has rejected a proposal on parking management by PT Ikabina Karya Sukses, on the grounds that the idea contains several weaknesses, including elements of gambling and poor services.
"The company's concept of parking management is substantially weak from various aspects," secretary of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction of the council, Romulus S. Sihombing, told reporters at his office on Tuesday.
Romulus said that the parking management concept offered by the company still contains elements of gambling because it provides motorists with opportunities to win several prizes, including cars, through numbers' game.
M. Hutagalung, the company's president, said after the company's presentation to the City Council, that the highest prizes offered are worth only Rp 10,000 (US$4.4). He added that the low prize values will not attract non-motorists to buy tickets to win the prizes.
He said that the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, has given the green light to the firm's proposal.
He said that the firm is open to negotiations on the amount of parking revenues to be submitted to the city administration.
Romulus said that the firm's plan to sell the parking tickets at various places, including supermarkets and gas stations, as well as at office counters appointed by the city parking authority, BP Parkir, is good only for ticket sales, not for service and security.
Romulus, also a member of the Council's Commission A, in charge of administration affairs, security and public order, said that the company's proposal has failed to include considerations of public order and security aspects.
After all, he said, the participation of private firms in the collection of parking revenues runs counter to the existing law, stipulating that only the state, in this case the city administration, has the right to collect taxes and levies.
He said that under city regional regulation No. 7/1987 and No. 3/79, a private company could only act as a consultant of the parking authority.
Parking management is currently handled by the city parking authority BP Parkir. The agency has been under fire lately, from various quarters, for allegedly failing to reach the annual parking revenue target, set by the city administration.
"If the city's parking management was taken over by private firms, what would be the role of BP Parkir?" Romulus asked.
He urged city administration to continue seeking the best way to handle the city's parking problems.
He said the participation of private companies in the city's parking management should have a legal basis. (32)