Organda abruptly cancels bus strike

Organda abruptly cancels bus strike

JAKARTA (JP): Unlike expected, the number of stranded
commuters in the capital was minimal on Monday thanks to the
hasty cancellation of the planned mass strike by owners of
private city buses.

Crowds of people, including those residing in the surrounding
areas of Tangerang and Bekasi, were stranded in the early morning
when buses failed to turn up.

By 7 a.m., some commuters panicked and forced private cars and
trucks to stop and give them a lift. Others got rides on buses
and trucks provided by the police, military and other related
government institutions, such as state bus company Damri.

According to the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the
Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), Aip
Syarifuddin, the owners of private buses grouped in the
organization changed their minds about striking after a meeting
in the early hours of Monday.

The last-minute decision, he said, was taken after the owners
agreed to wait for new bus fares to be set by the City Council.

"A strike would only burden city residents, who're our
customers," said Aip, who in the past few days repeatedly
insisted the bus owners were serious about staging a strike.

Since the cancellation of the planned strike was only decided
in the early hours, most bus owners failed to reach their crews
on time to tell them to turn up for work.

Therefore, he explained, it was not until 8 a.m. that most
private buses were back on the road.

After the internal meeting with private bus owners, Aip then
attended another meeting with Governor Sutiyoso, City Council
speaker Edy Waluyo and head of City Land Transportation Agency
(DLLAJ) Buyung Atang to discuss new bus fares.

After the meeting, the governor told reporters he could
understand bus owners' demand for a hike in fares due to the
skyrocketing cost of their operations.

"I did indeed send a letter to the council asking for a hike
in bus fares in July last year," he said.

In the proposal, dated July 20, 1999, Sutiyoso requested that
fares be increased to Rp 500 from Rp 300 for regular economy
buses, Rp 700 from Rp 500 for minibuses, Rp 200 from Rp 100 for
students and Rp 2,500 from Rp 2,300 for air-conditioned express
Patas AC buses. The governor also proposed the termination of
non-air conditioned express Patas buses.

Later in the afternoon, the City Council agreed to meet the
bus owners' demand for a hike in bus fares and promised to
announce the new rates on Saturday at the latest.

"We need more time to study the proposals (of the governor and
Organda) because so far only Commission D has studied them. The
council will also invite the city administration and Organda to
discuss the matter together," council speaker Edy Waluyo
announced after a meeting with chairmen of all the council's five
commissions and 13 factions.

Organda earlier proposed a hike to Rp 1,000 from Rp 300 for
regular economy buses, Rp 1,200 from Rp 500 for minibuses, Rp
3,250 from Rp 2,300 for Patas AC and Rp 100 from Rp 500 for
student fares.

When asked about the council's belated response to Sutiyoso's
proposal, Edy simply said: "The situation has changed since the
proposal was first delivered to the council."

Rumor has it that the delay to approve new bus fares as
proposed by the governor was designed to further remove Sutiyoso
from his current post.

"It's a political game," a source said.

Organda's proposal that import tax be eliminated for spare
parts to be used for public transportation has been dismissed by
the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

"The import tax for vehicle spare parts is already low at
between 5 percent and 10 percent. Moreover, there are so many
vehicle components produced and on offer on the local markets
here," minister Jusuf Kalla was quoted by Antara as saying on
Monday.

According to Jusuf, the proposed zero percent import tax would
not solve the problems faced by Organda members because the
prices of car components were already high due to the weakening
of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar.

The minister also voiced concern that eliminating import tax
on spare parts would benefit certain parties or individuals, who
might take the advantage of the policy to buy parts for their
private vehicles.

"Organda (members) are not alone in facing this hardship,
other businesses are also in the same situation," he said.
(06/09/nvn/bsr)