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)