New 'bajaj' scorned as city falls for mousy deer on wheels

After transporting Jakartans for nearly three decades, the city's bajaj will begin disappearing from the streets over the next few days. The city administration is determined to phase out the Indian-made bajaj in favor of locally made kancil (mini-taxi, literally means "mouse deer" in Bahasa Indonesia). The Jakarta Post's Urip Hudiono and Evi Mariani have been looking back at the history of the bajaj and the role these vehicles played in the development of Jakarta. This is the third of six articles.

A new generation of bajaj has been developed that meets all requirements for environmentally friendly public transportation. Despite the fact that the new bajaj are clean and fuel efficient as they run on compressed natural gas (CNG), they are unlikely to hit the city's streets to replace their older counterparts.

The problem lies in the number of wheels.

City Bylaw No. 12/2003 on transportation refers to community service vehicles, which are defined as passenger vehicles serving restricted areas. However, this category excludes three-wheeled vehicles.

Instead of the new, improved bajaj, the Jakarta administration has set its heart on the kancil produced by local automotive company PT Kurnia Abadi Niaga Citra Indah Lestari.

The city transportation agency, meanwhile, has stipulated that any replacement for the bajaj must have a four-stroke engine and four wheels.

"We are willing and able to produce new bajaj for Jakarta. The only obstacle to their operation is the limited number of gas stations in the city that are able to supply CNG. Out of the 14 gas stations that are supposed to have CNG, only six are operational," said PT Abdi Raharja director Rudy Irawan, the distributor of the new three wheelers.

He said that the new bajaj, produced by Bajaj Auto Ltd., India, is powered by a 173cc four-stroke engine, which is more powerful, yet much cleaner and quieter, than the two-stroke engine used by the old bajaj.

Displaying emission test results that are far lower than the maximum limits set by the Ministry of Communication's Directorate General of Land Transportation, Rudy added that the new bajaj had even been approved for operation in California, which has some of the strictest emission control regulations in the world.

Convinced that the new bajaj is an economical and environmentally-friendly vehicle, Rudy says he cannot understand why the Jakarta administration refuses to approve the new bajaj, unless a "political decision" was behind it.

Nevertheless, being barred from the capital does not mean that the new bajaj has not received a warm welcome in other cities.

"We have received orders for 100 bajaj each from the Palembang, Banjarmasin and Gorontalo municipal administrations, and been issued with permits for their operation in these cities," Rudy said.

He said the company's planned factory in Tangerang, Banten province, would be able to assemble some 500 bajaj each month, along with their spare parts.

The company is also cooperating with the Surabaya and Yogyakarta municipal administrations to gradually phase out the becak (rickshaws) operating in those cities with the new bajaj.