City to enforce lower private parking fees

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso insisted on Friday all privately managed parking lots must lower their parking fees in compliance with city regulations.

"Private parking lot operators have to put up signboards informing residents about the new parking fees, which will come into effect on May 1," he said at City Hall.

"We have a monitoring team to check on the placement of the signboards .... Officials will also monitor the parking lot operators to see whether they comply with the regulations or not."

Gubernatorial Decree No.1698/1999 sets parking fees at Rp 1,000 (13 US cents) for the first two hours and Rp 500 for each successive hour.

Meanwhile, City Bylaw No. 5/1999 on parking stipulates that the operators must give between 25 percent and 35 percent of their revenue to the city administration.

Currently, most private parking lot operators charge between Rp 1,500 and Rp 2,500 for the first hour and Rp 1,000 for each successive hour. The fee depends on the location of the lot, with higher charges for those lots more strategically located.

The operators also have refused to contribute a share of their revenue to the city administration, saying the administration was in now way involved in their businesses.

According to city regulations, a property developer must provide one parking space for every 100 square meters of property. Meeting the requirement is part of the process of acquiring a building license.

"It's their (developers) responsibility to provide the parking spaces before they get the building license. Otherwise, we won't issue the license," the governor said.

"They can't make a living off of public facilities. Parking should even be free," he added.

He also said the parking lot operators had no choice but to comply with the regulations.

"We'll take legal action, such as revoking their licenses or simply sealing off their parking lots," he said.

Contacted separately, the head of the City Parking Agency, Yani Mulyadi, said the city administration had established a monitoring team with member from various city agencies.

"The team will include officials from the City Parking Agency, the City Traffic and Land Transportation Agency, the City Public Order Office and the City police," he said.

"Each official will have a specific duty according to his or her agency. City Parking Agency officials, for example, will only monitor the parking spaces, while public order officials will have the right to seal off parking lots." (nvn)