PPD staff welcome layoff plan
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Employees of ailing state-run Djakarta Transportation Bus Company (PPD) unexpectedly welcomed the government's plan to lay off around 2,000 workers early next year in a bid to improve the company's poor performance.
Some drivers told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that they would be more than happy to be laid off in the first phase, which will affect around 1,000 employees, on the condition that the Djakarta PPD would provide considerable compensation in accordance with manpower ministry regulations.
"If the plan to lay off some 1,000 employees is realized, I prefer to be the first. There's not much we can do for the company now," said Darmin, a tour-bus driver.
Although he has yet to reach retirement age, Darmin would submit a resignation letter to the PPD management as soon as the restructuring program commenced.
He argued that the company was overstaffed, but the bus fleet had been declining over the past few years.
Currently, the Djakarta PPD employs 5,388 workers as public servants. The company suspended recruitment in 1995, due to its declining profit.
The Ministry of Communications issued a plan in April to lay off about 2,000 Djakarta PPD employees and purchase 150 new buses to rejuvenate the aging fleet.
The company has 751 buses, all of which are over 10 years old. Of these, only 315 are roadworthy and they serve only 44 routes of the 152 originally mapped out by the Jakarta administration.
Another driver, Ahmad (not his real name), said he preferred to quit and start a new business.
"Instead of working under uncertain conditions like this, it's better for me to start my own business with the compensation money, if the amount is sufficient," said the intercity bus driver.
Djakarta PPD data shows that the average monthly income is around Rp 7.5 billion, while expenses -- including salaries, fuel, maintenance, meal allowances and administrative costs for the company's 15 offices and one garage -- average Rp 11 billion a month.
Rampant corruption and mismanaged assets have been blamed for the deterioration of the company, which once boasted the largest fleet in the capital.
Bonar Manurung, an official from the office of the State Minister for State Enterprises who has been tasked with supervising the restructuring of the company, said last month that the government had only Rp 75 billion to finance the lay- offs and the restructuring program.
He said the Djakarta PPD would need around Rp 60 billion to compensate the 1,000 employees of the first lay-off phase.
PPD spokesman Safrudin Dahlan said a joint team from the Ministry of Communications, the office of the State Minister for State Enterprises and the PPD would complete the lay-off scheme early next year.
"The scheme ... will determine which employees will go, based the education, loyalty to the company and achievements during their tenure," he said.
Safrudin also said he would like to see his name on the lay- off list soon.