Jasa Marga proposes 30% toll fee hike

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga has proposed an increase in tolls of an average of 30 percent for all toll roads so as to attract new investors for future toll road projects, a senior executive said.

Jasa Marga's president Syarifuddin Alambai said on Wednesday that the company had presented the proposal to the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure last month, and it would be forwarded to President Megawati Soekarnoputri in one or two days.

"From there the government will take the proposal to the House of Representatives. We hope a decision can be reached by January," he said during a media conference here.

Syarifuddin said that routes that currently only charged Rp 500 (about US$0.048) would have their tolls doubled to Rp 1,000, while others would not be increased by as much.

Jasa Marga's director of development and commerce Frans S. Sunito said that if the House agreed, the toll hike would be the first increase since 1992.

"Until now Jasa Marga has managed to avoid operating at a loss, but if tolls are not increased, then in another two or three years, Jasa Marga will certainly be unprofitable," he said.

Syarifuddin said that although the company had always recorded a profit, it had been declining since 1997 when the company brought in a record Rp 272.4 billion in net earnings.

The economic crisis in 1998 had cut profits to Rp 165.75 billion, and this figure declined further to a low of Rp 149.2 billion last year.

"We predict that we will book a profit of Rp 150.3 billion this year, and with an increase in tolls next year, we'll be able to steadily increase our profits," Syarifuddin said.