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.