Pedicabs should have a place in the city: NGOs

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)