City traffic paralyzed by gas station queues

City traffic paralyzed by gas station queues

JAKARTA (JP): Transportation in the city nearly ground to a
halt yesterday evening due to long queues of vehicles at gas
stations following the government's decision to increase fuel
prices up to 71 percent.

Traffic jams progressively got worse after working hours, when
people intending to go home became trapped in bumper-to-bumper
traffic.

Motorists reported that they took hours to cover distances of
only two to three kilometers.

Some gas stations, such as the one in Pejompongan, Central
Jakarta, were swamped yesterday by cars and motorbikes since 12
p.m., causing heavy traffic congestion in nearby areas from the
overflow.

Two gas stations on Jl. Jend. Sudirman also experienced long
lines as people tried to fill their tanks before the planned
price hike took effect at midnight.

Sukanto, the driver of a new silver BMW sedan, said while in
line at one of the Jl. Jend. Sudirman gas stations that his
employer asked him and his three other drivers to fill the gas
tanks of his vehicles as soon as possible.

"My employer has five cars, so we're busy queuing at several
gas stations," he said, adding that the other cars were a
Cherokee jeep, a Kijang van and two other sedans.

Sukanto said his employer also asked him to buy extra gasoline
to be put in drums, but the gas station attendants did not permit
it.

The long queues at gas stations forced police to work hard to
keep the overflow from blocking traffic on the streets.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said five to 10
police officers were deployed at each of the city's crowded gas
stations to supervise traffic flow and prevent the stations from
taking advantage of the situation by saving stocks and refusing
to serve customers.

"Besides, it is necessary to control the queues to avoid
quarreling among customers," Aritonang said.

Long queues for gasoline also occurred in Bogor. Traffic jams
there started at 11 a.m., especially near the gas stations on Jl.
Dadali, in Warung Jambu and on Jl. Baru Cimanggu.

Many public transportation passengers opted to get out of
their buses and walk to their destinations.

Some minivan drivers in Bogor also lined up to buy gasoline.
Kosim, 30, said he went to a gas station soon after hearing
that the price of premium gasoline would be raised by 71.43
percent to Rp 1,200 per liter from Rp 700.

"I bought 10 liters of gasoline. Not bad. I could save about
Rp 5,000 with the current price," he said.

The announcement of the gasoline price hike upset many people.
A bus passenger in Bogor said he did not like the government's
decision but could do nothing about it.

A taxi driver expressed concern about new gasoline prices,
saying he was afraid that he may no longer be able to afford to
buy basic commodities, expected to increase following the fuel
price hike.

"My life has already been very difficult as the result of the
monetary crisis. The price hike will only worsen it," Silalahi, a
President Taxi driver, lamented.

Silalahi, who just married last December, hoped that students
across the country would continue to push their demands for
political reform and lower prices of basic commodities.

"We, the small people, lay our hope on the students and no
longer on legislators or other parties. Only the students voice
our aspirations now," he said.

Sandi, 25, who queued at a gas station in South Jakarta,
regretted the decision, saying it would mostly affect the poor.

"Why increase the gasoline price in such a tight monetary
condition. It will only make things worse. The little people will
surely suffer because of this," he said.

Bus tariffs

The government's decision yesterday to increase tariffs for
public transportation -- to Rp 500 from Rp 300 for regular buses
and to Rp 600 from Rp 400 for minibuses -- in line with the hike
in gasoline prices received a cold response from transportation
owners.

Secretary of the Association of Public Transportation Owners,
Asrul Azis Taba, said yesterday the bus tariff increase would not
prevent the transportation sector from collapsing.

"The tariff increases cannot cover operational costs and will
not help the transportation sector rise above the problems it
already bears," he said.

"The government should provide subsidies to help lower the
prices of spare parts and cancel excise duties for the
importation of spare parts. The government should also eliminate
taxes and levies related to the transportation sector," said
Asrul.

The head of the Jakarta Public Transportation Cooperative
(Kopaja), Sunarto, was also skeptical, saying the government's
minibus fare increase to "only" Rp 600 "will merely delay the
bankruptcy of the transportation sector."

"When the price of diesel fuel was still Rp 385 per liter, we
considered the proper tariff to be Rp 1,141. So, with the
gasoline price increase of up to 71 percent, the tariff should
also be raised by about the same percentage," he said.

Bus drivers, however, warmly welcomed the tariff increases.

Rustam Sinaga, 50, a driver of P15 Metromini bus serving the
Setiabudi-Senen route, said the increase was a must if the
government wanted to save the transportation sector.

"The tariff hikes will surely help us fulfill the daily
setoran (rental fees), which will undoubtedly be raised by the
bus owners in line with the gasoline price hike," he said.

Ricky, a student at SMA (senior high school) 24 in Senayan,
South Jakarta, said he was glad that student tariffs would not be
raised.

However, he doubted that bus crews would allow students to
ride for the old tariff of only Rp 100.

"Our tariff is very low compared to the new tariffs for
regular passengers at Rp 500. I'm afraid the buses will not
accept only Rp 100," said Ricky. (ivy/edt/ind/cst/24)