Motorists oppose toll hike for expressways

JAKARTA (JP): Several motorists opposed the planned increase of tolls on major toll roads to 30 percent, saying toll road operators should first improve their services.

"It is not right if the toll road operators increase the tolls without first improving their services," Christ Muktijono, an employee of M-Web, an Internet company, said on Thursday.

He said once the lights on the toll road between the Manggala Wanabakti toll booth to Pancoran were not turned on although it was raining heavily.

"A car in front of me skidded and almost hit the center strip. It was very dark," he said.

Christ's colleague Said, however, said: "The service is not bad but please don't raise the tolls now."

He said even if the raise is less than 30 percent, motorists who use toll roads every day would have to spend much more every month.

Said who lives in Bintaro, South Jakarta, takes the Pondok Pinang-Tanjung Barat toll road to go to his office in Tanjung Barat.

Helmy Anam, an employee of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, resides in Cijantung, East Jakarta, and uses the Pondok Indah toll road to commute. Her office is on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta.

"I have to take the toll road to avoid the three-in-one zone and the traffic congestion," she added.

"Why do they want to increase the tolls anyway? Their service is not really good. There are potholes along some toll roads, and signs warning motorists of road work are not put far away enough from the repair work," she complained.

Earlier reports said an interdepartmental team is studying a possible 30 percent increase in tolls on major toll roads.

According to the plan, tolls on intracity toll roads for private vehicles will be raised to Rp 3,500 (about 30 U.S. cents) from Rp 3,000.

The toll for the Jagorawi toll road will be raised from Rp 4,000 to Rp 5,500, and the toll for the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road will be increased from Rp 6,500 to Rp 9,000.

An executive of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), Agus Pambagio, said the increase was not imperative at the moment.

He believed state-owned PT Jasa Marga and other private toll road operators were enjoying "more than enough" profits from the high number of motorists using the toll roads everyday.

He said toll road operators and the Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure should first publicly account for the alleged irregularities in the management of the toll roads.

"Some sections of toll roads outside Jakarta are narrow. Also we have reports that contractors of the toll road project connecting Jakarta and Merak are not using good quality asphalt, but instead inferior materials and remnants from a project in Krakatau Steel," Agus said.

"So somebody should explain where all the profits the operators have been making for years have gone too."

Agus stressed that the operators should also explain why so much of money was needed for the building and maintenance of toll roads. (emf)