Council urges bus fare hike be reviewed

Council urges bus fare hike be reviewed

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council will likely turn down the
government's proposal to increase bus fares by up to almost 60
percent, saying that the hike should be lower.

The City Council's Commission D for development affairs
chairman Sayogo Hendrosubroto asked the administration not to
include all operational cost components, such as the price of
buses, as a consideration to increase the fares.

"If the administration only include the hike in fuel and spare
parts prices, the bus fare increase would not as high as
proposed," Sayogo said after a meeting between his commission,
Commission C for budgetary and financial affairs and the City
Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ).

He said the council would discuss the proposal with the
Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and the city's
Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) before
making any decision on the increase.

He said the council would also consider the rise which had
unofficially been imposed by bus drivers, as it was not as high
as the governor's proposal.

"We will come to a conclusion on the amount of the increase on
Saturday at the latest after the council leadership's meeting,"
he added.

Sayogo said the administration hoped the council could decide
its stance soon as city governor Sutiyoso would sign the decree
on the bus fare increase on Sunday.

He said that he could understand the governor's wish to
expedite it as the bus drivers and operators had threatened to
conduct a strike or arbitrarily increase the fares on Monday, if
the administration did not raise the fares.

Under the government's proposal, the current bus fares, which
are between Rp 500 and Rp 2,500, will increase to between Rp
1,000 and Rp 3,500, while students, who now pay Rp 200, will have
to pay Rp 300 each.

The drivers are now charging passengers about 30 percent on
top of previous fares since the government announced the fuel
price increase on June 15.

Thursday's meeting also discussed the possibility that the
administration give a subsidy to bus operators because the
implementation of a similar subsidy promised by the central
government is still unclear.

But city officials rejected the idea for fear that other
people, such as kerosene users would also demand a similar
subsidy.

Separately, City Governor Sutiyoso admitted that he was still
at a loss about the subsidy for bus operators, which was promised
by the central government.

He claimed that the administration had sought clarity from the
central government but to no avail.

"Imagining (receipt of) the subsidy is like imagining the moon
falling to earth. That's our conclusion," Sutiyoso told reporters
at City Hall on Thursday.

DLLAJ's chief Rustam Effendy revealed that the disbursement of
the subsidy from the government, which was reported to reach Rp
216 billion, was still unclear.

"We have had several meetings, but its still unclear when and
how it will be disbursed," Rustam said.

He said the bus operators had decided to reject the subsidy
because of its ambiguity and to instead demand the increase in
bus fares. (jun)