City postpones bus fare increase for a week
City postpones bus fare increase for a week
JAKARTA (JP): Failing to reach an agreement with bus operators
and councillors over bus fares, the city administration decided
on Tuesday to postpone its plan to increase bus fares for a week.
Several bus companies, nevertheless, have reportedly realized
their threats and raised their fares arbitrarily.
Speaking to reporters after meeting several councillors and
bus operators, deputy governor for development affairs Budihardjo
Sukmadi said the city administration had agreed to postpone the
bus fare hike.
"We agreed to postpone the hike to give the council time to
reconsider its recommendation," Budihardjo said after the meeting
at City Hall.
The city administration had proposed to the council a bus fare
increase of between 30 percent and 60 percent, but the council
slashed it to a maximum of 30 percent.
The secretary of Jakarta's Organization of Land Transportation
Owners (Organda) Asrul Azis Teba, said the council's
recommendation was based mainly on political and not economic
consideration.
Azis said during the week of postponement, the council should
consider a bigger fare increase by taking into account the
economic conditions.
"The council needs more time to discuss the fare hike. We are
ready to be invited again to talk about it," he told reporters
after the meeting.
He said Organda, which proposed a 100 percent increase, agreed
that the increase should be, at least, the same as Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso's proposal. Sutiyoso had proposed a 57 percent
fare hike.
Despite the decision to postpone the bus fare increase, some
bus companies on Tuesday increased their fares arbitrarily.
An upset passenger, Jamaludin, who usually paid a fare of Rp
700 said he was told to pay Rp 1,000 by the conductor of a Kopaja
bus plying the Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta -- Kampung Rambutan,
East Jakarta route
Jamaludin said the passengers could not question the raise as
there was an official announcement on the bus door notifying
passengers that the fares had been increased.
"The bus driver even asked some passengers to get off the bus
before reaching Tanah Abang," Jamaludin, a resident of Jl.
Talang, Central Jakarta, said.
Another passenger, Rustam, said he had also paid Rp 1,000,
instead of the official fare of Rp 700, to a Metromini bus plying
the Kampung Melayu -- Klender, East Jakarta route.
Other bus companies, such as Mayasari Bhakti, reportedly had
also increased their fares.
Budihardjo again urged bus operators not to increase their
fares until the city administration announced the fare increase
next week.
Asrul Azis also agreed to call on the 14 bus companies in the
city not to increase the fares arbitrarily while the fare
increase was still being negotiated.
"It's just an advise, we cannot guarantee that bus companies
will not increase their fares arbitrarily," he said.
Organda's chairman Aip Syaifuddin claimed that his
organization could not sanction bus companies which arbitrarily
raised their fares.
"They would be happy if we asked them to leave Organda as they
would no longer have to pay their membership fees," Aip added.
(jun)