Councilors oppose planned bus tariff hike
JAKARTA (JP): City councilors have strongly opposed a Ministry of Communications plan to double the tariff rate on city buses in the capital.
Head of the City Council's Commission D for development affairs, which covers bus tariffs, Ali Wongso Sinaga said on Monday the proposal was "irrational".
"I've repeatedly said that raising the tariff during the economic crisis is irrational," the councilor said.
Over the weekend, the ministry revealed that the office planned to hike the tariff for regular buses in Jakarta from Rp 300 per passenger to Rp 900, non-airconditioned express and limited (PATAS) buses from Rp 700 to Rp 1,350, minibuses from Rp 500 to Rp 1,150, and mikrolet (minivans) from Rp 800 to Rp 1,350.
Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono said he was concerned city commuters would witness a serious drop in the number of operational buses, as bus owners would no longer operate their fleet due to the skyrocketing price of vehicle spare parts and new buses as well as the declining number of passengers.
"Based on whatever calculation, the Rp 300 tariff imposed on a passenger won't be able to make the transportation companies survive. The businessmen will go bankrupt," the minister told Kompas on Friday.
When the city suffered a serious decline in public bus numbers, in theory the government should have been able to combat the problem by deploying new buses.
"But under the current situation, the government has no capability to do that," Giri said.
The plan was publicly disclosed only after an executive of the ministry held a meeting with Deputy Governor for Economic and Financial Affairs Fauzie Alvi Yasin and city bus operators on Wednesday.
According to businessmen who attended the meeting, the ministry plans to increase the bus tariff beginning late this month and further hike the rate in stages during the year.
The tariff for the regular buses, for instance, would be set at Rp 900 per passenger at the end of the year after being hiked to Rp 600 later this month, some of the bus operators said.
Councilor Sinaga acknowledged that he and his fellow colleagues could fully understand the ministry's fear.
"But, there must be a way out which won't affect the public in general," he said.
His commission therefore suggested either the central government, or the city administration, provide subsidies to bus owners in an effort to reduce the burden on the public.
Sinaga added that Governor Sutiyoso's administration had already agreed to subsidize the bus tariff, although it was yet to announce the exact figures or mechanism of assistance.
Fauzie suggested the subsidy could also be in the form of tax or levy reductions, or by granting cheap credit to bus operators.
Separately on Monday, city secretary Fauzi Bowo said the administration was taking seriously the proposal submitted by the ministry.
But he was insistent his office had yet to make any decision regarding the plan.
"This proposal is important. Bus companies are not only suffering because of the escalating prices of spare parts, there are also fewer passengers, since many people have lost their jobs due to the ongoing crisis," Fauzi said at City Hall.
Fauzi said the plan, and in particular the calculation of the figures, would be jointly discussed shortly by, among others, the administration, the City Land Transportation Agency and the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda).
As reported earlier, data from Organda revealed that of 21,987 buses here, only 70 percent, or 15,390 vehicles, have been operating since the economic crisis hit the country in July 1997. (ind/ylt/bsr)