Police declare war on scalpers

Police declare war on scalpers

JAKARTA (JP): With the demand for tickets rising steadily,
City authorities here on Thursday declared war against ticket
scalpers exploiting the public rush for intercity transport
during the holiday season exodus.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman urged
scalpers to cease their activities at various departure points
across the city, warning that police would not hesitant to shoot
them on site if they resort to extreme action.

"I have assigned large numbers of policemen to train and bus
stations and ports in the city. Some of them are in uniform, some
are not," Mulyono said.

"All of them are allowed to shoot on site if scalpers try to
resort to anarchic actions."

His strong warning came after a threat by scalpers to burn
down stations in the capital should PT. KA staff try to hamper
their activities following the arrest of 29 ticket scalpers at
Gambir railway station on Sunday.

Governor Sutiyoso on Thursday also spoke sternly saying that
the city administration would likely introduce a bylaw against
scalpers in anticipation of their activities as the peak exodus
approaches.

"We should pass a new City Bylaw to restrict the moves of
scalpers because their operations harm the people. The
authorities must find a way to fight the problem," Sutiyoso
remarked.

His conviction to fights scalpers was bolstered after
personally listening to the plight of several travelers who had
fallen prey to the scalpers.

Several passengers aboard the Lawit passenger liner that
serves the Jakarta-Medan route told Sutiyoso that they bought
their tickets from scalpers at twice the normal price.

"The official price of the ticket is Rp 72,000 (US$7.6) but
the scalper sold the non-seat ticket to Belitung, Southern
Sumatra for Rp 177,000," Sutiyoso recounted

"This is crazy!" he charged.

However the governor gave no explanation as to why the
passengers agreed to buy the tickets from the scalpers in the
first place.

Deployment

Tightened security was also evident as on Thursday the Jakarta
Military Police Regional Command stationed 35 soldiers, some in
plain clothes, at Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta.

"The soldiers help us maintain security to anticipate possible
anarchic actions as the annual exodus reaches its peak," PT
Kereta Api (PT. KA) public relations officer Gatot Wibowo told
The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

However Pulo Gadung bus terminal and Senen railway station on
Thursday had not yet seen a significant rise in passengers.

Separately the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in an
effort to facilitate the homeward journey of its employees on
Thursday provided 17 air-conditioned buses for 731 lower grade
employees making their homebound trip to Central and East Java.

The service was provided free of charge.

"This way there will be no queuing or sweating necessary.
Hopefully they will have a safe trip home to their cities in
Central and East Java. We booked the buses six months prior to
the festive season," Lies Sujudi, wife of Minister Achmad Sujudi,
said during the ceremony to see them off.

The ministry is forking out some Rp 55 million for
transportation to various towns such as Yogyakarta, Surakarta,
Purworejo and Surabaya.

The problem of scalpers has also hit Surabaya, East Java
following a marked increase in the number of passengers in the
bus terminals and trains stations on Thursday.

PT. KA public relations officer in Surabaya Soedarsono
admitted that most train tickets were sold out, many of them,
unfortunately, to scalpers.

Only executive class train tickets were still available.
However, 70 percent of these had been booked since last month.

In Batam, Riau, some 250 travelers stormed passenger liner
company PT Lestari Indoma's office at Sekupang port here,
demanding the company issue more tickets for the Dumai Express
liner, as reported by Antara.

Passengers got angry because they had been queuing since dawn
but the tickets ran out at midday.

The Indonesian Air Force and Navy are also supporting the
annual exodus by providing airplanes and warships to transport
travelers who wish to go to Jakarta.

The Air Force is providing a Hercules transport plane today
and on Sunday at a flexible price as it is not a commercial
flight, ticket officer Sgt. Basirun said.

The navy has readied the KRI Langsa which will leave for
Jakarta on Sunday.

An 60 percent increase in passengers compared to normal days
was recorded at Gilimanuk port in Bali.

"On Thursday, there were 14,000 passengers leaving from this
port. Usually we only have 8,000 to 9,000 people. We operate 16
ships everyday with a capacity of around 33,000 passengers,"
branch chief of Gilimanuk port office Karngun Sedono said as
quoted by Antara.

However, some provinces have not yet recorded an explosion in
travelers.

West Java Governor R. Nuriana said that there had yet to be a
marked increase in passengers in the province, after he visited
several entry points in the province on Thursday.

"At this moment there is no significant increase. But to
anticipate the influx we have prepared security posts on the Java
northern coastal route," Nuriana said as quoted by Antara.

He suspected the influx would reach its peak three or four
days before Idul Fitri which this year will fall on Wednesday.
(26/nur/dja/jaw/edt)