Parking problem

Parking problem

From Berita Buana

Every time parking in Jakarta is brought up, the government imagines that a huge fund can be collected from this sector. Every year a target of billions of rupiah is set. For example, the target last year was Rp 9.7 billion and for 1994/1995 it is Rp 14.6 billion.

Unfortunately the target is never reached. Last year the Jakarta Municipality pocketed Rp 900 million less than the set Rp 9.7 billion. Therefore, this year the Parking Management Agency is determined to make up for the last year's loss by raising the parking fee from Rp 300 to Rp 500. Mathematically the target can be easily reached, assuming that no manipulation or leakage occurs along the way.

It is the customers, namely the car owners, who are less fortunate. The parking policy places the weight entirely upon the clients. Yet the car owners can never be sure that their cars are safe once they have paid the parking fees. And the failure to reach the target set by the parking agency is by no means the car owners' fault. It is purely the fault of the parking management.

Or, it is likely that the set target is too high. We are in the dark as to how the Municipality comes up with such a high figure. As can be seen from the above figure, the increase for this year is Rp 4.9 billion (about 50.5 percent) from last year's figure. Is the increase compatible with the increase of the number of the vehicles? Or is the target determined so that the projected increase in parking fees can be justified. No one can tell.

It is difficult to know whether the parking tariff increase is a guarantee that the target can be achieved. I fear that the increase will in turn trigger a greater appetite for manipulation. What they should do is to improve the parking management system.

I think that it is time the Jakarta Municipality considered privatizing the parking business to make it more professional. And the Parking Authority should only collect the appropriate amount from the parking turn over to stop all the trouble created by the system.

HERBER L SITANGGANG

Jakarta