Pedicab drivers sue Governor Sutiyoso for operating ban

JAKARTA (JP): Six becak (pedicab) drivers claiming to represent some 130 fellow drivers lodged a civil lawsuit against Governor Sutiyoso on Thursday.

Accompanied by several lawyers, the six men filed the lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court. The suit demands the governor allow pedicab drivers to operate in housing complexes and markets in the capital.

According to their lawyers, including Apong Herlina from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and Sri Wiyanti Eddyono from the Legal Aid Institute-Indonesian Women's Association for Justice, the class action was signed by 139 pedicab drivers working in the city.

They represent the approximately 5,000 to 7,000 pedicab drivers in the capital, the lawyers said.

The filing of the lawsuit was witnessed by some 150 pedicab drivers, some of whom parked their three-wheeled vehicles outside the district court building.

Also present was Wardah Hafidz, coordinator of the Urban Poor Consortium, a non-governmental organization which has in the past organized protests against the city administration's policy banning pedicabs in the city.

The six pedicab drivers filing the suit were identified as Affendi, Mochtar, Mualim, Slamet Rahardjo, Kliwon and Budi.

Court official U.Dj. Sidabalok, who met with the pedicab drivers and their lawyers, said his office would process the lawsuit soon.

"Hopefully, the first session of the trial can be held no more than two weeks from now," he said.

Usually, the opening session is held at least three weeks after a lawsuit is filed.

The pedicab drivers alleged in their lawsuit Governor Sutiyoso was inconsistent in his policy on pedicabs in the city.

"Bylaw No. 11/1988 rules that pedicabs are banned in the city, but on June 25 last year, Governor Sutiyoso -- through the media -- decided to allow pedicab drivers to operate in the city due to the economic crisis," they said in the lawsuit.

The pedicab drivers said they were pleased with this decision, but shortly afterward the governor reversed his decision and instructed all five mayors in Jakarta to ban the operation of pedicabs in the city beginning on June 30, according to the lawsuit.

"This instruction was followed by the confiscation of numerous pedicabs throughout the city by city officials, sometimes through violence," the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also alleges the governor's ruling violated the principles of the law.

"Even President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Jan. 23 that pedicabs were allowed to operate in housing complexes here," the lawsuit says.

After filing the suit, Sri Wiyanti said the class action was necessary for efficiency and to minimize the court costs. "(With a class action) there's no need to file lawsuits one by one."

She also said the lawyers involved in the suit would distribute thousands of special cards to pedicab drivers expected to attend the court proceedings. The cards, called client cards, will protect their becak from being seized by city officials during their trips to the court, Sri said. (asa)