Government offers to sell PPD

Government offers to sell PPD

JAKARTA: In a bid to save state-run city bus company Perusahaan
Pengangkutan Djakarta (PPD), the government is offering to sell
the company to either a private company, a foreign investor or
the Jakarta administration.

The Ministry of Transportation's director general for Land
Transportation, Iskandar Abubakar, said on Friday that PPD needed
to pay off debts amounting to Rp 70 billion (US$7.8 million).

He added that as of 2001, the company had assets valued at up
to Rp 500 billion.

Iskandar was commenting on Governor Sutiyoso's earlier
statement about taking over the company if it was in a stable
financial condition.

"Liquidating the company is the last option because we cannot
afford to lay off 5,400 employees, which would mean a hefty
amount in compensation," Iskandar was quoted by Antara as saying.

PPD spends an average of Rp 11.9 billion per month on
operational costs. However, its income during the last three
months in 2002 was no more than Rp 8.5 billion per month. Last
December, the company only booked a Rp 6.97 billion profit. --JP