Kancil to replace 'bajaj', but too pricey, too few

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso's intention to replace 14,000 bajaj, Indian- made three-wheeled taxis, with local-made Kancil vehicles will take a long time as only 100 Kancil cars have been manufactured.

The producers, PT Kancil Automotive Marketing Industries, admitted on Thursday that they were not prepared for the change- over.

"However we could increase our production capacity to 1,000 a month if Kancil were used as public transportation," Kresna Didjaya the company's representative said.

Kresna claimed that 6,000 -- out of 14,000 bajaj owners interviewed -- had agreed to replace their vehicles with kancil.

But the real problem may be the price difference between Kancil and Bajaj.

The price of a Kancil vehicle is about Rp 34 million (US$4,000) while a Bajaj costs Rp 15 million. Many Bajaj owners expressed their reluctance to buy a vehicle made by Kancil due to the price.

Kresna said he would compensate Bajaj owners with a Rp 5 million down payment on the purchase of a Kancil.

He also suggested that each Kancil driver should pay a Rp 50,000 rental fee every day, the same price as renting a Bajaj.

The Governor expressed his intention to get rid of bajaj which are unpopular as they are said to be polluting the city's air.

"Bajaj should disappear when Kancil are launched. That's my target," Sutiyoso said, suggesting that producers make agreements with bajaj owners to make the change-over smooth.

He added that Kancil could support the city's busway project (BRT).

The administration is currently preparing dozens of buses for the project which will span 15 kilometers from Blok M area in South Jakarta to Kota area in West Jakarta. The project will be launched in December this year.

But City Transportation Agency head Rustam Effendy could not confirm when the four-wheeled Kancils will operate in the city.

"It depends on agreements between producers, bajaj owners and drivers. We will invite them to discuss it next week," Rustam said.

If an agreement could be reached, the 14,000 bajaj would be dumped into the sea, Rustam Effendy said.

"They (bajaj) could become rumpon (cage for fishes)," he said.

Actually the administration has done this before, pedicabs were dumped into the sea after they were banned in the city in the 1980s.