Minivan drivers go on strike in Pamulang
Minivan drivers go on strike in Pamulang
PAMULANG, Tangerang (JP): More than 150 minivan drivers went
on strike in Pamulang yesterday to protest the ongoing collection
of levies by a cooperative linked to the Jakarta Military
Command.
The drivers, mostly Batak, parked their minivans along the
Pamulang T-intersection at 10 a.m., causing heavy traffic
congestion along the main thoroughfares for three hours and
stranding hundreds of passengers at the Pamulang and Lebak Bulus
bus terminals.
The number of protesters steadily increased, with drivers
forcing their colleagues to stop their minivans and join the sit-
in.
"We will continue striking until the cooperative returns all
the money it has collected from the drivers and stop its
activities," Waktu Ginting, a spokesman for the protesters, told
The Jakarta Post.
Ginting said that owners of all new minivans were forced to
pay Rp 1 million (US$283) to the cooperative as membership.
Every minivan driver was required to pay a daily fee of Rp
1,000 to cover any ticketing problems with the police and the
Jakarta and Tangerang offices of the land transportation agency
(DLLAJ).
"In reality, however, we have never been given any help when
we were ticketed by police or fined by the local office of the
DLLAJ. The cooperative has never paid attention to our social
welfare either."
Lazarus Tarigan, another protester, said the cooperative has
collected more than Rp 600 million from drivers of about 200 D-15
minivans plying the Lebak Bulus-Pamulang route over the past five
years.
"It is better for us to go on strike and stop operating rather
than hand over a part of our daily income to the cooperative."
He said that besides the cooperative's collection, the drivers
were also burdened with various legal levies from the local DLLAJ
officers in Pamulang and South Jakarta as well as many illegal
levies by police officers and hoodlums.
L. Hasibuan, the chairman of the cooperative, was not
available for comment and his employees, stationed in Pamulang,
moved away as soon as the drivers began their protest.
The strike drew mixed reactions from passengers stranded in
Pamulang but they all urged the drivers to start operating again.
Liza, one of the passengers, expressed her dissatisfaction
with the drivers' strike and urged the local police to take
action against the protesters.
"Of course these are their cars but they should not just
abandon their passengers," she said.
Surono, another stranded passenger, said he sympathized with
the drivers' demands and their method of protest because they
were low income earners.
"The military command should probe the case to find out
whether it is true that the cooperative was founded by the
command," he said.
The drivers eventually ended the protest at 2 p.m. and began
servicing their route after the Pamulang Police subprecinct chief
and Pamulang district chief pledged to help stop the
cooperative's collection of levies.
Ginting said that he and the other drivers would strike again
today if the police and district chiefs fail to mediate their
dispute with the cooperative. (rms)