Council rejects proposal to hike parking tariff

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Council has rejected a proposal by city-owned parking management company BP Perparkiran to increase on-street parking rates.

"The management failed to convince us how they were going to address inefficiencies in collecting on-street parking rates. So we rejected the proposal to increase the rates," councillor Muhammad Firmansyah said on Wednesday.

Firmansyah, chairman of the team deliberating a draft bylaw on regional fees, said a hearing between councillors and officials from BP Perparkiran had been held on Tuesday evening.

BP Perparkiran has long been criticized for its inefficiency.

Last year, Rp 3 billion was taken from the city budget to subsidize the company, whose operational costs were Rp 17 billion and revenue Rp 14 billion.

In the draft bylaw, BP Perparkiran proposed raising on-street parking rates from Rp 1,000 (11 US cents) an hour to Rp 3,000.

The councillors, however, did agree to increase parking rates for motorcycle from Rp 200 per hour to Rp 500.

BP Perparkiran earlier announced it expected Rp 29 billion in revenue this year, on the assumption that parking rates would be raised.

In discussing the company's management practices, Firmansyah said BP Perparkiran deposited only 25 percent of the money it collected in the city treasury, although regulations require the company to deposit 75 percent.

He also questioned the ability of BP Perparkiran to control on-street parking lots given the presence of thugs at many of these sites.

A member of the team deliberating the draft bylaw, Dani Anwar, said that without professional financial management the money raised from a parking rate increase would only go to illegal parking attendants and unscrupulous officials.

"The parking management should have come up with a clear proposal on how it would overcome various problems in the collection of fees if it wanted the Council to approve its rate increase proposal," he remarked.

The Council has spent nearly a month deliberating the draft bylaw on regional fees that will become the legal basis for the fees charged for different public services.

Dani said the team proposed that the administration impose administrative fees on businesspeople seeking permits to establish businesses in the tourist industry, such as hotels, inns, restaurants, travel agencies, fitness centers and golf courses.

Bylaw No. 3/1999 on regional fees does not stipulate such fees for theses businesses.

Firmansyah said the team's conclusions would be presented during a Council leadership meeting before the bylaw is scheduled for passage on March 17.