Higher toll fees?

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