Parking fee hike a headache for employees

Parking fee hike a headache for employees

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"You thief," a senior government official yelled at Nita, a
parking attendant at a five-star hotel in Central Jakarta, and
refused to pay a single rupiah. After a bit more verbal abuse he
finally "paid" his bill by throwing the money into her face.

The official apparently felt he was the victim of a corruption
scam as he had to pay double the amount of the previous fee Rp
1,000 (approximately 12 U.S. cents), now Rp 2,000 per hour.

Nita -- who has been working for Secure Parking, the biggest
private parking operator in the city, for a year -- has found
that her job has become more and more stressful since the company
raised the parking fee last month.

Secure Parking, a joint venture firm between Australian and
local companies, has increased the fee without the legal approval
from the City Administration.

However, many seem to forget that the operator's employees are
actually the ones who take the harsh criticism from motorists.

"Whatever the result (of the parking rate debate) is, there
will be no significant change in my salary," the 24-year-old Nita
told The Jakarta Post recently.

At times, motorists often get angry at her, venting their
anger as if she was to blame for the rate hike.

"Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just doing my job," she said.

Since the parking rate was increased in early June, motorists
often pay only a half of the figure written on the bill, leaving
the attendants to make up the balance out of their own pockets.

Another parking attendant at the hotel, Iwan, 25, said that
being an employee for Secure Parking was hard. Besides being
yelled at by motorists, he could not avoid inhaling exhaust from
various vehicles all day long.

A doctor, who once parked in the hotel, pitied Iwan and told
him sympathetically that he should find another job for the sake
of his health.

"If you work here every day for three years, it could harm
your lungs," said the doctor as quoted by Iwan.

Carbon monoxide and other harmful gases from a car's exhaust
are not the only inconveniences he has to face.

Every second day, he spends eight hours in a cashier's booth
at the exit of the hotel's parking lot. The inside of the booth
is like a hot, crumbling shack without an air conditioner, unlike
similar booths in shopping malls.

The cashier's booth is next to a large hotel exhaust pipe that
in unbearably loud. So loud, that both Nita and Iwan need to
shout whenever they speak, not to mention the searing heat they
have to deal with from a row of compressor machines behind the
booth.

However, they are likely not to leave their jobs in the near
future as finding a new job is not easy.

"Finding a job is really hard these days," Iwan grumbled.

The parking company reportedly increased the fee in response
to the many building management companies that raised their
charges for the company while the city administration also
applied a 20 percent tax on off-street parking operators in the
city.

However, no official representatives at the parking management
could be reached for comment.

Increasing parking fees could encourage people to use public
transportation, thereby decreasing traffic jams. But, since the
city does not have an adequate public transportation system,
people with an option will still use their own vehicles and
despite the parking fee hike.