Drivers protest over new road charge

YOGYAKARTA: Hundreds of angkot (public transportation minibus) drivers staged a protest on Friday in front of the Yogyakarta Transportation Agency's offices on Jl. Raya Magelang here, rejecting the imposition of border toll charges.

According to a recently introduced policy, each public transportation driver whose route traverses the Yogyakarta border is required to pay a local government charge of Rp 30,000 (US$ 3.2) every 21 days.

Purwanto Johan Riyadi, the coordinator of the protest, said that the new policy greatly inconvenienced drivers and had to be revoked. -- JP