Mikrolet drivers protest City Halll policy
JP/3/MIKROLET/12pt Metroblack
Mikrolet drivers protest City authority's 'open door' policy
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of drivers of mikrolet minibuses yesterday protested City Land Transportation and Traffic Control Office's (DLLAJR) ruling which requires them keep their vehicles doors closed while they are in transit.
The mikrolet minibuses serve various routes to Kota, West Jakarta.
A protester told The Jakarta Post that the protest started yesterday morning when the Kota police ticketed some of the drivers for not closing their vehicles' doors. He added that the Kota police have been ticketing since the door closing rules took effect on Monday.
The driver, who claimed to represent his co-workers, said that the police were in error because the new ruling is not supposed to apply to mikrolet minibuses, but to wider-bodied buses only. He added that Mikrolet drivers are only required to wear uniforms and have their driver's identity cards with them.
"And until the end of this month, drivers who do not wear uniforms or have the card are not subject to ticketing, but to warnings only," he added.
The driver showed a copy of a statement made by M. Hutabarat, the head of mikrolet division of the City Land Transportation Organization (Organda DKI), which asked the head of DLLAJR to exclude mikrolet from the ruling because they are smaller than even the average minibuses.
The statement went on to say that there were not enough conductors available in the mikrolet minibuses to close and open the doors for the passengers, and that it is impossible to ask passengers to do it by themselves.
The driver said that only mikrolet serving the Kota route were ticketed and they have been so far ticketed by particular police officers of the Kota subdistrict.
"The names of the police officers are Darmawi, the commandant of the Kota branch of DLLAJR, and First Lieutenant Koharuddin,the post commandant of the Kota Traffic Police," he told the Post.
At present, there are six mikrolets serving the Kota route: M39 on the Senen-Kota via Rajawali route, M12 on the Senen-Kota via Sawah Besar route, M15 on the Kota-Priok via Ancol route, M15A serving the Kota-Priok via Manggadua route, M25 serving the Grogol-Kota route, and M08 serving the Tanah Abang-Kota route.
According to the driver, he was required to pay Rp 15,600 by the police who ticketed him for driving with open door.
"For picking up or dropping off passengers at places other than the designated bus stops, I used to pay Rp 10,600 to the police. It's ridiculous that they now are asking me to pay Rp 15,600 simply for not closing the door," he said.
He added that he had been ticketed seven times since Monday.
One of his friends added that after paying the ticket in the bank, he was asked by the police to pay them Rp 2,000 in "administration fees."
Up to 2 pm yesterday the City Council and the House of Representatives were guarded by riot police and municipal guards in anticipation of possible protests. However no protesters appeared.
Latest data at the DLLAJR office show that at present, there are 5,783 mikrolets operating in Jakarta, serving a total of 51 routes.
Strike
Yesterday, hundreds of mikrolet drivers were reported to have staged a sit-down strike at the Tanjung Priok bus terminal, North Jakarta.
They protested the on-going ticketing of public transportation crews who drive with doors open. The protest was dispersed peacefully by police and military personnel.
The drivers included crews of the mikrolet minibuses linking the terminal to areas such as Cilincing, Koja and Kota.
"We're just asking the authorities exclude us from the measure because everybody may learn that the interior space of our vehicle is too small to have a conductor to get in to help the drivers with the doors," said Garso, one of the protesters.
Because of the strike which began at 10:30 a.m., commuters of the Mikrolet vans had to find other means of transportation.
"I had to spend almost one hour waiting for the mikrolet before someone told me that the drivers were on strike," said Erwin, a resident in the Tanjung Priok area. (06/bsr)