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)