Four buses to be provided for Tangerang students

TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang administration is planning to provide four special buses to accommodate students who have been complaining of a lack of transportation.

Tangerang Mayor Djakaria Machmud said the Tangerang Legislative Council has approved the plans.

Speaking after inducting Musholien Harjono as the new chairman of the Tangerang Post Office on Saturday, Djakaria said the number (of the buses) may be inadequate and thus asked for patience.

"It's only an initial step. We hope that private transportation companies will also think about providing buses especially for students," Djakaria said.

The mayor attributed this problem in part to the "reluctance" of bus drivers to carry students because they are only paid half of the normal fare.

Two of the four buses will be deployed to serve students along Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, Cikokol, where there are 12 schools at the moment.

According to the head of the Tangerang education and culture office, H. Warsa, at present there are around 80,000 junior high school (SMP) and high school (SMA) students in Tangerang.

Thousand of students living in Tangerang are stranded every day at bus shelters waiting for buses to take them home.

Many are then forced to walk down the streets for kilometers because the buses fail to turn up. Even if they do appear, many bus drivers seem unwilling to stop for them.

"If we opt for students we will not be able to pay our rental fees. So I'd rather choose passengers who are not students," Tutur Suryadi, one of the drivers, told The Jakarta Post.

Due to a lack of public transportation vehicles, students are frequently forced to ride in trucks or other private vehicles, which force the students to jump from the moving vehicles when they want to get off.

Stranded students also tend to gather in large numbers, which often results in brawls.

Teguh Setiawan, who passes the area on his way to work everyday said it is horrifying to see such large numbers of stranded students.

A number of teachers and headmasters whose students face difficulties in transportation share Teguh's view. "We can still control them in schools. But outside the school complexes, it is difficult for us to supervise," they said. (13/bas)