Nearly half all public busses are standing idle

JAKARTA (JP): The number of functioning urban public busses has dropped drastically to 49,791 in June from 89,781 units last August due to the economic crisis, Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono said yesterday.

He said the 12-month monetary crisis had caused the price of imported auto components to skyrocket, causing severe difficulties for public transportation operators.

"The difficulty in obtaining auto components has badly affected their capacity and service," he said at a recent seminar.

The rupiah has plunged to about Rp 15,000 to the U.S. dollar from Rp 2,450 in July.

Giri said the government would provide subsidies and soft loan facilities for the public transportation operators.

"We've been making efforts to provide components at affordable prices which are 10 percent to 30 percent below the market price. We will also provide Rp 11.85 billion in soft loan facilities."

He added that the loans, which would be distributed to 20 provinces, would come from the coffers of the 16 state companies in the communications and transportation sectors, including telecommunications firms PT Indosat and PT Telkom.

Giri did not provide further details or the timetable for the implementation of the new facilities.

An official at an auto component manufacturer said the government had also asked component makers to provide cheaper parts for the public transportation sector.

"We are making brandless components which are slightly cheaper," he said.

He, however, said that the difficulty was in distributing the brandless components because existing retailers have been dealing with only their own brands. (rei)