Operators ask govt to raise toll rates immediately

Operators ask govt to raise toll rates immediately

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The increased operating and maintenance costs of toll roads have
financially stretched the operators and therefore the
government should immediately raise expressway tolls, according
to the Indonesian Toll Road Operators Association (ATI).

ATI chairman Faturrochman said the government had to increase
tolls soon or otherwise the operators could suffer losses of up
to Rp 40 billion (US$4.11 million).

"Increased tolls would allow us to earn revenues of between Rp
15 billion and Rp 20 billion per month," he said as quoted by
Tempointeraktif.com recently, adding that delaying toll hikes
would place additional financial pressures on the operators.

Faturrochman said tolls needed to increase due to rising
domestic fuel prices, as well as increasing salaries and
electricity bills.

The government had planned to announce an increase early this
month but the announcement has been delayed due to strong
opposition from some legislators and non-governmental
organizations.

State toll road operator PT Jasa Marga planned to raise tolls
on the Balmera tollway in Medan, North Sumatra; the Palikanci tollway
between Cirebon and Padaleunyi in Bandung, both in West Java; the
Semarang inner city tollway, Central Java; the Jagorawi tollway
connecting Jakarta with Bogor and Ciawi in West Java; the
Jakarta-Tangerang tollway; and the Surabaya-Gempol tollway in
East Java.

Responding to the lawmakers objections that any increase would
be burdensome for expressway users, Faturrochman pointed out that
toll hikes would not affect low-income people.

"At present, there are only three million people -- the
motorists using the expressways -- who will be affected by higher
tolls," he said as quoted by Antara over the weekend.

Public transportation, excluding taxis, could get a 25 percent
discount by purchasing annual tickets, he added.

Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto said earlier that the
government would only raise tolls if operators submitted
proposals for improvements in service -- including adding more
lanes, building additional entrance and exit gates, and providing
free-of-charge ambulances and tow trucks.

The chairman of the House of Representatives' transportation
commission, Sofyan Mile, had also said earlier that the
government should delay granting approval for toll hikes pending
guarantees from the operators that they would improve their
services.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) also objected to
the proposed increases, saying that hiking tolls did not make
sense as the operators were benefiting from increased traffic
flows on their roads.

Faturrochman, meanwhile, argued that higher tolls would
attract more investment to the sector -- essential given the
government's commitment to building an additional 1,700
kilometers of expressway across the country over the next five
years, or 340 kilometers per year.

The operators claimed that the country's lack of expressway
infrastructure was mainly due to uncertainty over land
acquisition and the level of tolls.

Under Law No. 38/2004 on national highways, tollway operators
are entitled to increase tolls every two years in line with
inflation. The last time the government increased tolls was on
June 11, 2003.