Minivan drivers stage rally at council offices
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.