Government says new fares take effect on Friday
Government says new fares take effect on Friday
JAKARTA (JP): The new higher fares for land and sea passenger
transportation will take effect on Friday as planned in spite of
last minute objections from the Indonesian Consumers Foundation
(YLKI).
Anwar Supriyadi, the Secretary General of the Ministry of
Transportation and Telecommunication, told YLKI representatives
that the fare hikes of between 52 and 70 percent had already been
approved by the House of Representatives in June.
Conceding that the increases would be burdensome to the
public, he promised that they would be accompanied by improvement
in transportation services.
Fares for passenger trains will be increased by up to 72
percent, passenger ships by up to 59 percent, ferries by up to 62
percent and inter-province buses by up to 52 percent.
YLKI chairwoman Indah Suksmaningsih told Anwar at the meeting
that the agency could only agree to a maximum increase of 30
percent, considering the people's economic conditions.
"We insist that the House of Representatives and the
government review the hikes," Indah said.
Admitting the inevitable, Indah said YLKI would monitor
transportation operators to keep their promise to improve their
services in return for the hefty fare hikes.
YLKI has come under a lot of criticism for its belated
response to the announcement of the fare hike in June, in
contrast to its swift and aggressive reaction in opposing
increases in Jakarta bus fares earlier this year.
In her defense, Indah said that this time round the agency was
too ill funded to launch a consumer survey which it needed in
preparing a response.
In the survey that it eventually carried out, an overwhelming
70 percent of the 300 respondents objected to the hikes, she
added.
She said many people had phoned YLKI in the last two months
asking for its reaction to the planned fare increases.
"But our silence should not be construed as YLKI's agreement
to the government decision to increase the fares," Indah said.
YLKI would continue to lobby for a review of the fare
increases as it monitored the transportation operators, she said.
"If the operators continue to give poor services like today,
YLKI will file a lawsuit," Indah said. (01)