Higher toll fees?

Toll road fees in Indonesia are expected to go up, even though official word from the government has not been received. But from the proposal made by PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP), the company which manages toll roads, such a conclusion can be drawn.

The reason given by CMNP is quite simple. According to Teddy Kharsadi, a CMNP director, the company will fail to reach its projected profit unless proposals to increase the toll fees are approved by the government. For the period up to December, CMNP has projected a before-tax profit of Rp 117 billion. This, however, is based on the assumption that government approval for the toll fee increase is assured.

So far the community has not objected to private parties building and managing toll roads. Nor have people ever questioned the toll road conditions, though jams and even accidents on toll roads are considered common. All they know, from newspapers, is that compared to other countries such as Thailand, Malaysia or the U.S. toll road fees in Indonesia are among the highest.

When we compare the situation with Malaysia's, toll road fees in this country become highly questionable. In that neighboring country, toll road fees are only about one ringgit (Rp 800), and the same fee is paid even by the motorist that drives from Kelantan State to Kuala Lumpur -- a distance of 700 kilometers.

It is when things are viewed in this context that people start asking whether the obsession to meet projected profits is really an acceptable excuse for raising toll fees. This question becomes especially relevant when we consider the fact that, just for the first semester of this year, CMNP has already netted a gross profit of Rp 53.11 billion.

-- Republika, Jakarta