Minivan drivers stage rally at council offices

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Some 1,000 public minivan drivers in Tangerang municipality drove around the city in convoy before staging a protest on Monday in front of the municipal administration and Tangerang Council building over the relocation of a bus terminal from Cimone to Poris Plawad.

The protest left thousands of passengers stranded on the streets. They had to walk to reach their destinations or take ojek (motorcycle taxis).

The drivers started their protest at around 11:30 a.m. after driving around in convoy, but were banned from entering the administrative compound by security guards. They demanded that the administration review its policy and return the bus terminal to Cimone.

"We have been losing passengers since the Poris Plawad bus terminal started operating more than a week ago. Every bus stops at the new terminal," Junaidi, one of the drivers, told The Jakarta Post.

Most public minivans can only stop at the Cimone bus terminal but passengers must continue their journey to Poris Plawad bus terminal to get city buses. Only certain public minivans are allowed to enter Poris and this has caused resentment among other drivers. On Sunday evening, they attacked three public minivan drivers who have access to the new terminal.

Passengers had earlier complained about the relocation of the bus terminal, saying they had to spend more time and money on public minivans to transfer them from Cimone to Poris Plawad.

Ade, 20, a resident of Bandar village, Cikupa, said that she usually paid Rp 1,000 (12 U.S. cents) from Jatake and just needed 30 minutes to reach Cimone bus terminal.

"Now I have to spend Rp 2,500 and it's a one hour trip to get to Poris," she groaned.

Bus drivers also complained about the new terminal's location, saying that they had to pass along congested Jl. Sudirman to reach the terminal.

"With vendors occupying half of the road in front of the Cikokol market in the morning, we can only get a few passengers even if we've been waiting at the terminal for an hour," complained bus driver Priyono.

Only intercity buses are available inside the new terminal. City buses drivers prefer to make a U-turn at the Cikokol flyover or at the intersection of Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl. Imam Bonjol.

The public minivan drivers said they would continue their protest on Tuesday as no administration officials or councillors met them during their protest.