Concern over small businesses

Concern over small businesses

From Suara Karya

State railway company PT KAI does not side with the "little
people" running small businesses just to keep body and soul
together.

The company's repressive measures against street and sidewalk
vendors along the route taken by electric trains from Jakarta to
Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi are highly regrettable. As PT KAI
actually wants these vendors to rent stalls, it can in fact use a
more elegant manner in dealing with them. The 1945 Constitution
guarantees every citizen the right to work.

PT KAI can find other ways to ensure that these vendors can do
their business in an orderly manner, and it should not use the
comfort of train passengers as a pretext for preventing street
and sidewalk vendors from doing business along the train route.
PT KAI must also realize that its service to passengers is very
bad.

In this context, PT KAI must realize that it is still not able
to provide special cars exclusively for women. The company is
still unable to prevent passengers from sitting on the roofs of
trains. It must also realize that many of its facilities are in
bad condition, and explain to the public why it always claims to
suffer losses while its trains are overcrowded every day.

Last but not least, in 2003 alone 30 people were killed, 24
people were seriously injured and 20 others sustained minor
injuries because of accidents related to electric trains
connecting Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi. Shouldn't the
entire PT KAI management assume full responsibility for this?

NURDIN AR
Jakarta