Official says city almost free of pedicabs again

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration claimed yesterday to have almost completely cleared the capital of becak (pedicabs) following inconsistencies in its policy on the man-powered three- wheeled vehicles in June.

Toha Reno of the city public order office said that his staff had seized 4,588 out of the 4,661 pedicabs that came into the capital after Governor Sutiyoso allowed the vehicle owners to operate within the city limits.

Sutiyoso decided in June to allow pedicab drivers to operate again along small roads in a bid to help provide job opportunities for unemployed people. The decision, however, was revoked seven days later out of fears that they would cause further congestion in the already chaotic traffic system.

"We'll continue searching for pedicabs no matter where the owners or drivers have hidden them. All pedicabs should have been removed from here by Aug. 1," Toha said.

Three hundred and forty three of the 4,588 captured pedicabs have been kept as evidence at the office's warehouse in Cakung, East Jakarta, while the other 4,245 were sent out of Jakarta, he said.

Public order officials seized 1,472 pedicabs in operations in West Jakarta, 1,129 in Central Jakarta, 902 in North Jakarta, 796 in East Jakarta and 289 in South Jakarta, Toha said.

He said the pedicabs were both taken from drivers on city streets and discovered in garages or warehouses.

At least 70 pedicab drivers and owners went to the National Commission on Human Rights yesterday to complain about the officials' bad conduct during the operations.

A driver named Erik told the commission that military personnel involved in the antipedicabs operation had pointed their guns at him and another 10 drivers in an operation on the night of Aug. 1 in Karang Anyar sub-district, Central Jakarta.

"They told us to stop, stay put and hand over our pedicabs, while pointing their guns at us. I did not dare to complain," he said.

An owner named Wastur said the public order officials scared him when they raided his garage on Jl. Pangeran Jakarta in West Jakarta and took away his 25 pedicabs.

"They forced their way in and shouted: 'Where is the owner... where is the owner,' as if they were searching for a bad person," he said.

Lawyer Dewi Novirianti from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, who accompanied the drivers and owners to the commission, questioned the legal basis of the operation.

"The action of seizing pedicabs from the owners and drivers must have been supported by a particular decree so that it can be considered a proper and legal action," she said.

Toha admitted that police officers and personnel from the regional military command were involved in the operations but rejected reports that the officers pointed guns at the drivers.

"That's impossible. We have a code of ethics... we follow the procedure. None of the officers would have done such a thing. We're all also human beings, we have hearts," he said bluntly.

But he refuted the accusation that the operations were conducted without any legal foundation.

"The operations were based on Gubernatorial Decree No.850/1992, which regulates the elimination of pedicabs from Jakarta. It allows city officials to find and seize all pedicabs from the streets and houses or wherever they have been hidden," he said.

BN Marbun, one of the commission members who received the owners and drivers yesterday, called on the governor to pay the price for his inconsistency.

"Don't make the pedicabs drivers and owners victims of your own mistake. The governor must give compensation for the pedicabs which have been seized and transport the drivers and owners back to their hometowns," he said.

"And next time, please, no more speaking without thorough consideration in advance," he added. (cst)