City offers incentives to private parking operators

City offers incentives to private parking operators

JAKARTA (JP): In a bid to attract private parking operators
the city is planning a shared account for parking revenue to
enable better control of the use of funds.

Separately it is also proposing that private collectors only
need to pay the city 10 percent of their revenues from parking,
which would change the city law stipulating that private firms
must pay 30 percent to 35 percent of this revenue.

The proposed mechanism of a shared account is part of a new
partnership program with private parties in collecting parking
fees.

Deputy head of the City Parking Agency, Sukri Bey, said
on Friday the new mechanism was aimed at "increasing
professionalism in technology, investment and management."

The city has long been criticized for being ineffective in
collecting parking fees, but Sukri said this would improve in the
new partnership scheme because the private sector would be in
charge of the management apart from providing investment.

The agency has blamed unofficial collectors for its problems
while others have suspected corruption in the agency.

Sukri said the agency targeted receipts of Rp 16 billion by
the end of the year but given the average monthly receipts of Rp
1.3 billion "we may only get Rp 11 billion."

He hoped the income would double because of the proposed new
law requiring payment of only 10 percent to the city.

Sukri said the current law was responsible for the city losing
a lawsuit against five companies in August.

They had their businesses sealed because they had refused to
comply with the new parking fee set by the city, from Rp 500 to
Rp 1,000, saying it was arbitrarily set.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court decided the city must
change the city law on parking revenues.

Constraints in collecting parking fees, he said, include the
fact that the agency only controls parking collection on 340
streets while some 170 streets were still dominated by "hoodlums"
and "unscrupulous members" (oknum) of the agency.

Regarding the partnership plan, Sukri said that the proposed
shared account between private operators and the agency would be
better than the current practice of all parking revenue paid to
the city coffer.

This practice makes it difficult for private firms in
partnership with the city to scrutinize the account activity, he
said. "If necessary we can set up an independent body to watch
over the account," he said.

Meanwhile five out of 19 private companies have passed the
prequalification term for the first phase of the partnership
program. The first phase screens the historical performance and
financial management of companies.

After the city council decides on the agency's proposed
design, the five winners must then deliver their proposals.
Finally two companies will be selected and a consortium will be
formed with the parking agency.

The five companies through the first phase are PT Sumber Batu,
PT Adiwira Sembada, PT Sibhisa Jaya Sakti, PT Rodial Indonesia
and PT Mega Nusantara Masagena. One requisite of the partnership
program is that the contenders may not be from one group.

"We are still checking" whether the contenders meet
requisites, Sukri said, adding that records of company ownership
were not disclosed by the agency in the past.

"Now we want to be transparent," he said.

Sukri said the partnership should start in December and would
be effective for five years. Agency records show there are 323
private parking operators in the city. (07)