PPD bus operator strike makes small ripples
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The state enterprise Djakarta Transportation bus company (PPD) was not in operation on Wednesday as most of its drivers, conductors and staff went on strike, but it did not greatly affect the city transportation, according to some commuters.
PPD, which is supposedly be the leading bus operator in the city, only serves 44 routes. It has 751 buses, but only 315 are roadworthy. The figure is less than 6 percent of the total of about 5,200 large and medium-sized buses operating in Jakarta.
"This morning I took the Mayasari Bakti bus serving Bekasi and Kota, the same route served by the PPD bus which I usually take. Well, I didn't get a seat and had to stand up all the way here and I was one hour late," Rita, an employee at state-run Radio Republik Indonesia on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post as she alit at a bus stop across from her office.
Organized by the PPD branch of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), about 2,000 bus drivers, conductors and staff staged a rally outside the Presidential Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta.
They intended to meeting President Megawati Soekarnoputri to complain about the company's policy to pay their salaries for the last three months on an installment basis; as well as the management's plan for asset divestment.
Instead of meeting them, the President appointed Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea to deal with them.
"It is not very wise to directly demand things from the Palace, you should meet me first. Anyway, the President has directly spoken to me, asking my office to find a solution to the problems," Jacob said while meeting representatives of PPD workers at his office.
"I will hold a discussion with all parties involved in PPD's management here on April 14," he added, while promising them that he would make some phone calls to make sure that the workers would soon receive their full salaries.
As a state enterprise, PPD is currently under the authority of four different institutions. Its financial affairs are in the hands of the Ministry of Finance, its operations are in the hands of the Ministry of Transportation, while its management is controlled by the office of the State Minister for State Enterprises.
Meanwhile, the control of its area of operation is handled by Jakarta administration.
Since its merging with seven private bus operators in 1995, the company has had a problem of too many employees, where the ratio of buses to staff is 1:12, or each bus is handled by 12 crew members. The acceptable ratio is 1:5.
The company's data shows that the monthly income is about Rp 7.5 billion (US$842,700), while the expenses, including for the salary of 5,388 workers, fuel and maintenance, amount up to Rp 11 billion per month.
As a consequence, PPD is now in debt about Rp 50 billion.
"We want the government to entrust all the authority only to the Jakarta administration because too many institutions taking care of PPD doesn't mean an efficient management. When there is a problem, like the one we're facing now, each of the institutions just shift blame to each other," the workers' coordinator, Robinson Hasibuan, told Jacob.