Pedicabs should have a place in the city: NGOs

JAKARTA (JP): Four major non-governmental organizations on Thursday demanded the city administration allow a limited number of pedicabs (becak) to operate in designated areas of the capital.

A policy on the pedicabs -- currently banned despite a policy flip-flop earlier in the year -- could be justified based on the leniency shown toward street cafes, executives of the NGOs told the City Council in a meeting. Seven pedicab drivers also attended.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Darmaningtyas from the Foundation of the Center for Development of Transformative Social Sciences (LPIST) said the administration should treat people equally.

He argued that if entertainers -- most of whom have suffered a drop in income due to the economic turmoil -- were allowed to open street cafes, then the same accommodating attitude should be afforded to the pedicab drivers.

"Why does the administration give its sympathy only to the wealthy entertainers and not to the poor pedicab drivers?" Darmaningtyas said.

Also in attendance at the meeting with members of the City Council's Commission D for development affairs were representatives of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Indonesian Consumers Association (YLKI) and Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi).

The meeting was originally scheduled to inform the council about research conducted by the NGOs on the pedicab problem in the capital.

The pedicab issue returned to haunt the city administration when Governor Sutiyoso on June 24 -- in response to a reporter's question -- said that he would permit the three-wheeled vehicles to operate again after a 10-year ban to provide job opportunities during the crisis.

His remarks opened the floodgates for a deluge of pedicabs from as far away as Central Java.

Six days later, the governor abruptly backtracked on his decision on the grounds the drivers had violated regulations on restricted areas by operating not only in alleys and on small streets, but on major thoroughfares as well.

The NGO representatives recommended that Sutiyoso issue permits for the pedicabs to operate in designated areas, such as housing complexes.

"Based on our research, the proper location for pedicabs are housing complexes, traditional markets and streets which have yet been served by public transportation vehicles," Darmaningtyas said.

The study concluded that there were at least 673 places in the greater Jakarta area that could be properly served by about 5,000 pedicabs.

"It is just an estimated figure as we did not survey the whole area thoroughly," Darmaningtyas said.

The research, he said, was conducted in August in 40 of the city's 43 districts, but he did not discuss the study method.

In response to the NGOs' demand, the councilors, he said, argued that implementing the proposal would first require revoking the 1988 City Bylaw No. 11 which banned pedicabs.

"It takes time to process a bylaw," he quoted the head of the commission, Ali Wongso Sinaga, as saying.

Darmaningtyas said Ali's remarks were an implicit rejection of the proposal and showed the councilors were apathetic about standing up for the rights of the poor. (ind)