Plan to import buses from China delayed

Plan to import buses from China delayed

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration's plan to import cheap
buses from China will likely be delayed until the Ministry of
Industry and Trade agrees to lower the import duty, an official
has said.

The City Land Transportation Agency chief, Buyung Atang, told
The Jakarta Post on Saturday that until now, the ministry had yet
to agree to lower the import duty from 40 percent to 10 percent
(of the price of the bus).

As part of its efforts to improve public transportation
services, the administration plans to purchase 3,000 buses,
comprising 54-seat buses and 26-seat minibuses from the People's
Republic of China. The prices of the vehicles are Rp 250 million
(US$29,760) and Rp 160 million each.

The city administration has officially asked the Ministry of
Industry and Trade for (tax) special treatment. Governor Sutiyoso
also has plans to meet Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut B
Panjaitan to discuss the matter.

According to regulations, it is the Ministry of Finance that
has the authority to approve or reject the special tax treatment
proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade following the
administration's request.

The administration has appointed private company PT Dayu
Bahtara Kurnia to oversee the purchase and the shipment of the
Chinese-made vehicles.

"We cannot proceed with the plan to purchase the buses,"
Buyung said. The buses were previously expected to arrive in
December.

However, Buyung said he was still upbeat that the approval for
the special import duty would be issued "hopefully before the end
of this year. We hope that the first 1,000 buses will arrive in
December."

Currently, there are 3,584 public buses which have been
operating for between 15 years and 20 years in the city. The old
buses belong to 14 private companies, which are obliged to
improve their fleets. The companies would be burdened by the high
import duty for the Chinese buses.

In a related development, the Organization of Land
Transportation Owners' Jakarta chapter chairman Aip Sjarifuddin
said a taxi fare hike would most probably come into effect before
the fasting month, which starts on Nov. 27.

"Maybe the effective date will be in the second week of
November," Aip told the Post.

"As soon as the governor approves our proposal (on the fare
increase), a joint meeting with the 32 taxi companies will be
held," Aip said. (dja)