Postpone sticker plan until crisis end: Golkar

Postpone sticker plan until crisis end: Golkar

JAKARTA (JP): The Golkar faction in the House of
Representatives added yesterday to mounting pressure on the city
administration to shelve plans to introduce a traffic sticker
system.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) demanded that
President Soeharto rescind the decree he issued earlier this
month which endorsed the controversial plan.

Golkar faction chief Irsyad Sudiro suggested that Governor
Sutiyoso postpone the scheme, which is scheduled to be tested
between August and November, until the crippling economic crisis
comes to an end.

"It would be inappropriate to further burden people who are
already weighted down by the crisis," he said. "Remember, not all
motorists entering the restricted zone are rich."

Plans to introduce the controversial system were put into
motion following Presidential Decree No. 50, 1998, on the
restricted traffic area in the city, and the 1998 Government
Regulation No. 45 on regional levies.

The sticker system would require people wanting to travel
along Jl. M.H. Thamrin and Jl. Jend. Sudirman between 7:30 a.m.
and 9:30 a.m., and between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on week days to pay
Rp 5,000 (60 U.S. cents) for a one-day entry sticker, or Rp
80,000 for a one month pass.

The system is intended to help alleviate chronic traffic
congestion in the city center and will replace the current three-
in-one traffic regulation which was introduced in 1992.

The three-in-one system, which requires private cars entering
the restricted zone at peak times to contain at least three
people, is considered to have been ineffective in dealing with
the city's traffic problem.

Irsyad said the city administration's determination to press
on with the new system despite strong public objections showed
that the governor was uncertain about how best to deal with
traffic congestion in Jakarta.

Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono should
explain the plan to the House and guarantee its effectiveness, he
said.

"If it's only designed to collect money, the plan should be
scrapped because not all motorists can afford to buy the
stickers," he said, as quoted by Antara.

Giri proposed on Wednesday that Sutiyoso consider a compromise
solution where only cars carrying less than three people have to
buy a sticker.

Both Golkar and the institute agree that the administration is
prevented by law from collecting levies on non-toll roads like
Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman.

On a separate occasion, the institute's Jakarta director Apong
Herlina proposed that President Soeharto revoke his decree
because the public was strongly opposed to the sticker system.

Besides, she said, the laws on which the President based his
decree were designed to regulate the city administration's income
generating activities, not to deal with traffic congestion.

Apong argued that requiring motorists to purchase stickers to
enter the city center was tantamount to charging levies on a non-
toll road, a practice which is clearly illegal under the
provisions of Law No. 14, 1992 ,on traffic and land
transportation.

"The law stipulates that everybody can use roads free of
charge unless the roads are designated toll roads," she said.

"The President should therefore rescind his decree out of
respect for the law."

The institute plans to ask the Supreme Court to conduct a
judicial review of the disputed Presidential decree and rule on
whether or not it contradicts the existing law. (ind)