Council called on to reconsider some traffic rules

JAKARTA (JP): The City Police yesterday asked the City Council to reconsider the applicability of some traffic regulations, which have now gone into effect but are hard to carry out.

"We, for example, have not yet found a proper method on how to detect how long non-Jakarta cars have been traveling in the city," Col. Soeroso, the head of Traffic Directorate of the City Police(Kaditlantas) told the City Council's Commission A on law and administrative affairs during a hearing on a progressive car tax system with the commission yesterday.

Soeroso was answering the question of city councilor Edi Sukiswantari Probo on how his directorate would implement a ministerial decree which stipulates that any cars from other provinces found to have been in the city for at least 90 days are subject to tax.

Soeroso said it was easy for owners of cars with non-Jakarta license plates to get around the rule by going outside the city limits, such as to Bogor or Tangerang, for some hours and then returning to Jakarta.

Another difficult problem faced by police in the implementation of traffic regulation issued by the city administration, Soeroso said, was the handling of the so-called three-in-one kids.

"We caught and briefed them not to offer themselves for a lift to motorists to make the number of their passengers three. We even gave them meals in custody. But the next morning, they were there again, offering their services to passing cars.

"We, of course, cannot do that everyday," he said.

Soeroso said there was a driver of a car which was netted for giving a lift to such a child.

When asked why he did so, the driver defended that as far as the three-in-one rule was concerned, taking a child to make the number of his car's passengers three by no means violated the rule. "How can you say I disobeyed the rule? I have two passengers with me," Soeroso quoted the driver as saying.

"We could do nothing but release the car," Soeroso said.

"It is we who are supposed to enforce the implementation of a law or rule. Hence, we hope law makers do not create rules which are too difficult for us to implement," he said.

The three-in-one rule was introduced about two years ago to reduce traffic congestions along the city's roads. The rule dictates that every car using particular roads during morning rush hours must have at least three passengers.

Decentralization

During a visit to East Jakarta with city councilors to monitor the process of vehicle document issuance, Soeroso said police will decentralize the Samsat system in the near future in order to make it easier for motorists to procure the documents.

The Samsat system is an integrated administrative office in charge of issuing various vehicle documents, such as license plates, in each of the city's five mayoralties.

The system, which is at present concentrated at the city police headquarters and in East Jakarta, is overseen by the city police, the City Revenue Office and the Jasa Raharja state-owned insurance company.

With the decentralization, motorists who live in Central, West or South Jakarta, for instance, will not have to go to the city police headquarters anymore. Currently motorists who live in North Jakarta have to go to Samsat office on Jl. Panjaitan, East Jakarta, for renewing their license plates.

Lt. Col. Soekarno Yatno GA, head of Traffic Directorate at the City Police in charge of the collection of taxes on the ownership of motor-vehicles and the transfer of such ownership, said that last year the city administration received Rp 533 billion in vehicle taxes.

Soekarno said at present there are 2.35 million vehicles registered at the city police headquarters but only 1.25 million of them paid their taxes regularly. (arf)