PPD drivers will 'receive their insurance fund'

PPD drivers will 'receive their insurance fund'

JAKARTA (JP): The central government, in an economic affairs
coordination meeting, decided to disburse the insurance fund
belonging to the state-run City Bus Company (PPD) employees, who
are striking for the fourth consecutive day over the disputed
money.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli told
reporters after chairing the ministerial-level meeting that the
government would also shortly restructure the firm and conduct a
thorough auditing into the company's performance. The Supreme
Audit Agency (BPK) has been asked to seriously look into the
company, especially the usage of government-subsidized funds.

Ramli ensured the 5,500 PPD employees, mostly drivers who had
been on strike since Friday, that their insurance fund would be
distributed to them while the government awaits the BPK report,
Antara said.

The minister, however, did not set any time for the
disbursement of the fund, which had triggered the PPD drivers and
conductors to go on a massive strike.

Until late Monday, none of the PPD executives and staff could
be reached to comment on the government's decision, and whether
or not the bus drivers would continue to stop operating the 600
PPD buses.

The drivers said earlier that the money, worth Rp 13 billion
allocated for the employees' insurance and pension fund, had
become a prolonged problem for the PPD employees which sparked
their anger to hold the strike.

PPD President Anton Sudarto resigned last Thursday following
his failure to meet his promise by the Sept. 29 deadline to pay
the fund to his employees.

The Ministry of Finance intentionally delayed the fund because
the firm's board of management used some Rp 6 billion of the
previous fund package to finance PPD's debts and a company
streamlining program.

Director General for Budget at the Ministry of Finance Anshari
Ritonga said on Monday that his office would distribute the fund
as soon as PPD management could make significant corrections in
their previous balance sheet reports in the use of the
government-subsidized money.

"We never tried to delay the fund, but they have to correct
their balance sheet reports before we disburse the money,"
Anshari told reporters after a meeting with former PPD president
Anton Sudarto.

In response, Anton promised to meet the requirements and hoped
that he could deliver it first thing on Tuesday to the ministry.

The strike of the PPD bus drivers caused no serious problems
to the city's thousands of commuters thanks to the rapid response
from the authorities by deploying some 450 buses from three bus
companies.

Some people said that the absence of the PPD buses, which
serve 48 routes in the capital, forced them to wait longer at the
bus stops since the other buses with the same routes were always
packed with passengers due to the limited buses available.

"I have to wait longer to reach my office on Jl. Sudirman as
all buses were always full. It's a little bit annoying for me,"
said Nida Rahman, of Bekasi.

Another commuter, Irwan of Tangerang, said he had to take ojek
(motorcycle taxi) to reach his office due to the fully-packed
buses.

Confused with the absence of PPD buses route number P 45
plying Blok M - Tangerang and the overloaded air-conditioned
Mayasari Bhakti buses, a housewife finally took a taxi to reach
her home in Tangerang.

"I spent more than an hour in Slipi with my baby ... but there
were no P 45 buses and all of the air-conditioned buses ran at
full speed with passengers seen standing inside," the woman said.

Losses

A PPD spokesman told a radio station in a live interview on
Monday that the company had so far suffered a total financial
loss of around Rp 800 million due to the four-day strike.

"We usually earn some Rp 200 million per day, meaning that we
have now already lost around Rp 800 million," he said.

Separately, head of the City Land Transportation Agency
(DLLAJ) Buyung Atang said the city administration spent not a
single penny in providing the extra 450 buses to temporarily
replace the PPD buses.

"We do not have to pay for it at all, but some of the bus
companies, such as Mayasari Bhakti and Steady Safe, have started
complaining to us saying that they have to run their buses 24
hours a day which would eventually cost them," he said.

According to Buyung, the city administration could do nothing
to solve the PPD problem as it is a state-owned company.

City councilor Sayogo Hendrosubroto echoed Buyung, adding that
the idea of taking over the company should be studied thoroughly
as PPD still has a huge debt and poor management.

"We have to put the bus company in the agenda ahead of the
regional autonomy, but we have to study the possibility carefully
as we all know the company has a lot of debt and we have to
consider whether we can guarantee better management if we take
over the company," Sayogo said.

By February this year, the company reportedly had incurred
some Rp 49.6 billion debt in covering its operational costs. PPD
was actually managed by the Jakarta administration for almost 20
years until Dec. 31, 1980. (dja/bsr)