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)