Government to grant Rp 2 billion to PPD company

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Communications has promised to allocate Rp 2 billion to state-owned Perum PPD bus company for the improvement of both its employee's welfare and its operations, a senior official at the ministry said on Monday.

"The ministry will soon submit a budget proposal to the Ministry of Finance worth Rp 2 billion," said acting communications ministry spokesman Rukmalan Soemantri.

A large portion of the funds will be used to meet workers demands for a 120 percent salary increase, while the rest will be used on bus maintenance, he said.

According to Rukmalan, who used to be the head of the ministry's media and press relations department, a joint team comprising representatives of the Ministry of Communications, Perum PPD employee representatives and the bus company's board of directors are still discussing the details of the proposal.

"The team is prudently calculating the amount of salary hikes," he said.

He said the funds would eventually run out and in turn the company would be forced to improve its operations and strive to be a healthy and independent company.

"The company should be self-reliant so that it can afford the burden of employees' wages on its own," he said.

Two days of protests by Perum PPD workers ended on Tuesday after employee representatives met Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono at the minister's office in Central Jakarta.

Stunned by Monday and Tuesday's strike, the minister promised the protesters that affirmative action would be taken immediately to solve the problem.

On Tuesday, the minister and Perum PPD's board of directors agreed to employees' demand for a 120 percent salary hike, which will be implemented in stages over a six-month period starting with July salaries.

In a letter signed by top executives of the company, members of the board of directors vowed they would resign if they failed to keep their promise.

Giri acknowledged on Tuesday that the company had not made a profit for a decade, and implied there had been no increase in employees' salaries for seven years.

Giri said the company had 1,200 buses, but only a half of them were operational. With 7,000 employees, mostly drivers and conductors, Perum PPD provides transportation services in Greater Jakarta.(asa)