City mulls hike in parking charges

City mulls hike in parking charges

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration will consider a proposal by off-street
parking operator Secure Parking, which has requested a doubling
in the current charge of Rp 2,000 (20 US cents) per hour to Rp
4,000 per hour.

Governor Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that the increase would
help reduce the number of private cars on the road.

"We haven't received the proposal, but we're expecting it," he
said.

Secure Parking corporate affairs director Toni Tjuaca said
that the company, which controls 70 percent of the off-street
parking business in the city, had to increase charges to cover
its increased operating costs due to the recent fuel price hikes
and the increases in the Jakarta minimum wage in 2004 and 2005.

"The most recent increase in off-street parking charges was in
2003, while the minimum wage increases every year," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI)
criticized the Secure Parking proposal as parking was a service
that should be provided free of charge by building managements to
their visitors.

"Parking must not be treated as source of profit. It is a part
of public service," said YLKI executive Daryatno.

The chairman of the City Council's Commission D for
development affairs, Sayogo Hendrasubroto, said that Commission D
had not been informed about the proposal to increase parking
charges.

"But I don't see any reason why they should be increased. They
(the operators) have not responded, for example, to public
complaints about the security of their cars," he said.

Not surprisingly, many car owners also voiced opposition to
the proposal.

"How can they ask for higher charges, while they do nothing to
improve the quality of their services, particularly the security of
our vehicles and the things inside them," said Farok, 38, a
resident of Ciputat, in South Jakarta.

In February, Sutiyoso also proposed a 200 percent increase in on-
street parking charges from Rp 1,000 to Rp 3,000 per hour. But
the City Council rejected his proposal, arguing that the revenue
raised from parking charges was not been accounted for
transparently.