Organda objects to fuel coupon plan

JAKARTA (JP): The government-initiated scheme to provide fuel coupons for public transportation received a strong objection from the Land Transportation Owners Association (Organda) on Wednesday.

Chairman of Organda's Jakarta chapter, Aip Syarifuddin, said the scheme would be unable to cover the vehicles' operational costs.

"We are grateful with the fuel subsidy scheme but we have to reject it if we can't increase our bus fares and other public transportation fares.

"The subsidy is insignificant because it only covers about nine percent of our operational costs," he said.

Aip was addressing a question-and-answer session of a panel discussion on public transportation fares and subsidies at the Ministry of Communications.

He said the larger proportion of owners' expenditures was for spare parts and vehicle maintenance.

"We have repeatedly asked the government to reduce the import tax on spare parts," he said, while accusing the government of having no control over the spare parts trade.

He cited the price of Bridgestone tires for buses, which was not lowered again after the rupiah strengthened from Rp 15,000 during the height of the economic crisis to the current rate of Rp 7,500 to the U.S. dollar.

"It's more important to give subsidies on spare parts than on fuel. It's not going to help much," he said.

Aip called on the importance of imposing lower interest rates on vehicle loans.

"Once the lower loan interest rate is imposed, we'll be able to set a lower rate," he said.

The official said regular buses would need Rp 887 (12 US cents), minibuses Rp 1,013 and limited buses (Patas) Rp 1,409 from each passenger to cover their operational costs.

"And an additional 10 percent should be added to the amount to establish the new fares for the buses and other public transportation vehicles," he said.

Aip said he would meet members from the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII for environmental, science and technology affairs on Thursday to deliver the association's stance on the matter.

"Organda's Jakarta chapter will also hold a plenary meeting for all members on Saturday to familiarize the association's position on the fuel subsidy scheme," he said.

Another speaker at the panel discussion, Tini Hadad of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), said the fare hike was understandable as the government could not provide such a large amount for a subsidy.

"Residents have to understand this," she said, while suggesting a hike of 30 percent to 60 percent from current fares.

She suggested, however, that the government should maintain the fuel subsidy.

"Residents are questioning the government's policy of raising state officials' salaries, and at the same time they are revoking or reducing the subsidy," she said.

The ministry's secretary-general, Anwar Suprijadi, acknowledged that with current fares, it was the owners who subsidized the passengers.

"Actually, it's the government's duty to subsidize the passengers," Anwar told the participants.

Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IV for infrastructure and transportation affairs, Sudjarwo Sukardiman, said the fuel increase would have little effect on the fare hike.

"It will, however, affect other sectors of people's lives, including the drivers' welfare," he said, while pointing to the trend that a fuel hike was always followed by hikes in other services and commodities.

Sudjarwo, a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, added that his commission was still calculating the fare hike.

Under a subsidy scheme designed by the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), each public transportation driver was entitled to get 12 liters of premium gasoline or 20 liters of diesel at the current price per coupon.

However, public transportation drivers had yet to be informed on the coupons' mechanism.

Although the mechanism regulates the involvement of regional traffic agencies, head of City Traffic and Land Transportation Agency Buyung Atang said he had not been informed of the mechanism.

"I have not received any details on coupon distribution, and there is only nine days to go. The discussion to put the coupon system into effect didn't involve my agency," he said over the phone on Wednesday.

"The Ministry of Communications has yet to issue guidance on the mechanism."

He said the mechanism should involve local authorities, such as the city administration and the city council.

Apart from the panel discussion, some 300 student protesters, grouped under Forum Kota (City Forum), staged a protest at a traffic circle of Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl. Suwiryo in Central Jakarta, which is close to former president Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana. The protesters demanded that the government cancel, among other things, the planned fuel increase, as well as the proposed electricity and telephone fare hikes.

The students staged a similar protest earlier in front of State Palace on Jl. Merdeka Utara. (nvn)