Firm proposes hike in highway toll rates

Firm proposes hike in highway toll rates

JAKARTA (JP): PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, a private
company operating a 17.6km toll road in Jakarta, proposed
yesterday an increase in highway toll fees to help it to repay
loans.

"The highway toll rates in the country have so far increased
very slowly, causing toll road developers some difficulty in
repaying loans," the president of PT Citra Marga Nusaphala
Persada, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, said.

Hardiyanti, better known as Tutut, told reporters after
attending a hearing with Commission V of the House of
Representatives that the government should increase highway toll
rates every two years.

Citra Marga, which is 22 percent-owned by Yayasan Purna
Bhakti, 17.78 percent by state-owned highway company PT Jasa
Marga, 13.2 percent by PT Bhaskara Duniajaya, 8.89 percent by
state-owned steel company PT Krakatau Steel, 8.8 percent by PT
Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, 4.4 percent by Hardiyanti's PT Citra
Lamtoro Gung Persada, 0.5 percent by cooperatives and 24.4
percent by investing public, has built the 17.6km elevated
highway connecting Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta and Cawang in
East Jakarta.

The toll rates for the highway, set at between Rp 2,000 (about
90 U.S. cents) and Rp 6,000 for each vehicle -- depending on the
size of the vehicle -- are integrated with a 12-km highway
between Cawang and Grogol in West Jakarta, which is operated by
Jasa Marga. Citra Marga, under an agreement, collects three
quarters of the toll revenues and Jasa Marga only the remaining
one quarter.

"I think it's time for the government to raise highway toll
rates," said Hardiyanti, who is the eldest daughter of President
Soeharto.

The government has allowed private sector companies to make
investments in the construction of highways but toll rates are
determined by Presidential decree.

Rates

Hardiyanti refused to give any details of her proposal of a
toll rate increase but said that toll rates for a comparable
highway in other countries might be as high as Rp 6,000 for a
small vehicle.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works Ruslan
Diwiryo said recently that the government had received a number
of proposals from the toll road developers demanding increases in
highway toll rates.

A ministry official said the government was considering an
increase of about 25 percent.

The government raised highway toll rates in July 1992 by
between 20 percent and 50 percent. The rates for the Tanjung
Priok-Grogol highway were raised from Rp 1,500 to Rp 2,000 for
small vehicles and from Rp 2,000 to Rp 3,000 for medium-sized
vehicles. Large vehicles became liable for a new rate of Rp
4,000.

Mohammad Buang, a member of Commission V, which deals with
transportation, public works and telecommunications, said
yesterday that Citra Marga should not demand a toll rate increase
because it had received an incentive from the government, which
has extended its license to collect revenue from the toll road
from 22 to 30 years.

Hardiyanti said her company is currently developing a 13.13-km
highway between Tanjung Priok and Jembatan Tiga in West Jakarta
with an estimated investment of Rp 676.45 billion (US$307.48
million). (icn)