Passengers affected by strike despite cancellation

Passengers affected by strike despite cancellation

JAKARTA (JP): The Organization of Land Transportation Owners
(Organda) took several hours to spread word of its decision to
cancel a planned strike, meaning most bus drivers failed to show
up for work on Monday morning, stranding thousands of commuters.

However, the strike only affected the morning commute, with
most buses resuming operation at about 9 a.m., soon after the
drivers learned of Organda's decision.

Katino, a Kopaja minibus driver, said he decided to return to
work after seeing his fellow drivers working.

"A Kopaja controller instructed me to return home when I
started to drive the bus at 6:00 a.m., but I made up my mind to
work when I saw other bus drivers starting to work at about 10:00
a.m.," said the driver, who plies the Kampung Melayu-Ragunan
route.

Sunaryaman, a driver's assistant on a Mayasari Bhakti bus
plying the Kampung Rambutan-Grogol route, said his colleagues
decided to return to work at 9:00 a.m.

"We heard that Organda canceled the planned strike, but our
boss did not tell us about it," he said.

The aborted strike left a number of commuters stranded at East
Jakarta's Kampung Melayu, Pulogadung and Kampung Rambutan bus
terminals, as well as in the Cawang area of East Jakarta.

At the Blok M bus terminal in South Jakarta, duty official
Azis Said said there was a slight drop in the number of buses
operating out of the terminal. However, he said only the drivers
of Kopaja minibuses took part in the strike.

"We were able to settle the problem with the help of 20 buses
from the Indonesian Military and the police," he said.

The terminal accommodates 1,000 public transportation vehicles
and serves 75,000 passengers daily.

While in West Jakarta, the head of the Grogol bus terminal,
Bambang Budiarto, said the area was not affected on Monday.

He said six additional buses had been deployed to transport
some 300 passengers to Kalideres, West Jakarta, in the morning,
but the buses were told to return home in the afternoon because
they were no longer needed.

"The situation returned to normal in the afternoon, after the
busy morning hours," Bambang said.

The head of the Kalideres bus terminal, Syafruddin Tasar,
said: "The only problem was the late arrival of buses to the
terminal."

Because it was difficult to find buses in the morning, a
number of commuters took ojek (motorcycle taxis), bajaj (three-
wheeled motorized vehicles) and taxis.

Daisy, a telephone operator for a travel agency in Kelapa
Gading, North Jakarta, said she paid double for her commute on
Monday.

"Usually I only spend Rp 3,000 a day, but today I spent Rp
6,000 because I had to change buses several times," said the
resident of Kebon Nanas, East Jakarta.

Adri said she arrived late to her office in the Pulogadung
industrial estate in East Jakarta.

"Office hours start at 8:30 a.m. but I was only able to reach
the office at 11:00 a.m.," said the resident of Cileduk, South
Jakarta.

Most companies were prepared for the late arrival of their
employees, as testified to by Gunawan, an employee at an
electronics company in Central Jakarta.

"Some 10 employees came late this morning, but my boss could
understand that," he said.

While bus drivers and commuters were put out by Monday's
abortive strike, ojek, bajaj and taxi drivers reaped the benefits
of extra passengers.

Ojek driver Nurhamid said he earned Rp 25,000 while only
working half the day. "Usually, I can only earn Rp 15,000 for the
same period."

Similarly, Sujatmin, a bajaj driver, said: "This morning I
earned Rp 30,000 for three hours of work, compared to the Rp
15,000 I make on normal days."

In Tangerang, home to hundreds of thousands of people who
commute to Jakarta for work, Monday morning was a time for panic.

Crowds of stranded commuters were seen, particularly at
unofficial bus stops near the toll gates, such as in Karawaci and
Kebon Nanas.

"Gosh, I never saw such a sea of people on any Monday morning
like I saw today," said a student of Tarumanagara University,
referring to the crowd of people waiting for buses to Jakarta on
Jl. Imam Bonjol in Karawaci.

"Those people were panicky, afraid they would be unable to get
a ride. At 6 a.m., I saw men and women running here and there
every time they spotted a PPD bus or private car from a distance.
They forced themselves onto buses that were already packed. They
didn't care. Some of them risked their lives as they held on to
the bus doors with their feet just inside the door," she said.

As of 7 a.m., buses from the privately owned PT Mayasari
Bhakti, a major firm that serves passengers on the Tangerang-
Jakarta routes, were still absent from the streets.

Some commuters stopped passing private vehicles and paid Rp
1,000 for a ride to Jakarta.

"We have no other choice," Sujarwo, a resident of Cipondoh
Makmur housing complex, said.

Around 8 a.m. several buses from Mayasari Bhakti and Arief
Rahman Hakim arrived to serve commuters, and by 10 a.m. the
situation in Tangerang had returned to normal.(06/ind/41)