PPD's history goes back to Batavia as a tram firm

JAKARTA (JP): Like it or not, PPD city buses have become a part of daily life for many Jakartans.

Thus, any kind of strike by PPD drivers or crew always bring thousands, if not millions, of commuters in the capital to the alert, as well as the local authorities.

The state-owned Pengangkutan Penumpang Djakarta (PPD), literally meaning Djakarta (old spelling style for Jakarta) Passenger Transportation Service, was under the supervision of the Jakarta Administration for 20 years until Dec. 31, 1980.

Its history stretches back to 1925 when the burgemeester (mayor) of Batavia (the capital's name during the Dutch colonial times) Voorneman suggested a merger of the two existing tram firms, namely Nederlandsch Indische Tram Maatschappij (NITM) and Bataviasche Elektrische Tram Maatschappij (BETM).

The new company, called Bataviasche Verkeers Maatschappij (BVM), received new buses and was designed to manage all trams and buses previously owned and operated by NITM and BETM.

Shortly after the arrival of the Japanese forces in 1942, the new invaders set up a new firm named Djakarta Shiden, which only focused its service on city trams. All city buses previously operated by BVM were seized by the Japanese and used for other purposes.

But Djakarta Shiden lasted less than three years, following the defeat of the Japanese in World War II.

Just one day after Indonesia proclaimed its independence on Aug. 17, 1945, a number of Djakarta Shiden employees -- with strong support from the Pemuda Menteng youth group -- forced the Japanese authorities to hand over all city trams to the local administration. On Aug. 20, 1945, the capital witnessed the handover of the ex-Djakarta Shiden trams to the newly-founded Indonesian government. The trams were then managed by a special division under the Jawatan Kereta Api (Railways Company).

The "return" of the Dutch soldiers, this time with their allies, in 1947 brought BVM back to the city, which was reestablished to manage the trams that were a major transportation means in Jakarta at the time.

The name BVM was quite popular among city commuters for at least seven years until June 12, 1954 when the government, through the nationalization scheme of the Ministry of Transportation, took it over and on Dec. 12, 1954 introduced its new name: Perusahaan Pengangkutan Djakarta, or PPD.

The new firm received several donations, including from Australia's Leyland Buses ahead of the Colombo Plan meeting.

Following president Sukarno's instruction in 1960 to ban trams in the capital, the company focused its business on city buses.

In accordance with the implementation of a new law on state companies, the government founded a firm called PN PPD (Pengangkutan Penumpang Djakarta) on June 29, 1961. On Sept. 1 of the same year, the new company was handed over to the Jakarta Administration.

Twenty years later, the government via the Ministry of Transportation, took over the running of PPD. Just recently, however, the ministry has attempted to establish a more suitable status for the company.

Although many Jakartans have called on the ministry to allow the Jakarta Administration to take back PPD, many are worried that the firm would only place a further burden on the city's budget, as the company has been noted for its poor management.

City councilor Sayogo Hendrosubroto said the idea of taking over the company should be studied thoroughly as PPD still has huge debt and poor management.

"We have to put the bus company on 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 had reportedly incurred some Rp 49.6 billion in debt in an effort to cover its operational costs.

As a record, PPD suffered losses of around Rp 29.7 billion in 1996 and Rp 18.9 billion in 1997.

The latest massive strike of PPD's drivers and administration staff, which ended on Monday after four days of non-stop striking, was not the first ever to be held by the drivers, their assistants or colleagues at the firm.

For years, PPD employees have had different reasons to stage strikes but the most common issues were related to problems caused by the company's poor management and financial condition.

According to the workers, they usually filed their complaints with the PPD management, legislators and related ministries but their pleas always fell on deaf ears.

In February 1996, they visited the House of Representatives to seek help to clarify their uncertain status and poor working conditions.

In March 1998, they staged a protest at the PPD head office, demanding better treatment and the resignation of some PPD top officials.

Three months later, hundreds of them went on strike again over demands for better wages. They claimed that employees who had been with the firm for 10 years were still only paid Rp 150,000 a month.

The latest strike was triggered this week by the reluctance of the Ministry of Finance to disburse the Rp 13 billion that was supposed to be allocated for the insurance and pension fund of all of PPD's 5,500 employees.

The strike ended after the Ministry of Finance promised to disburse the disputed fund soon to the PPD employees. (bsr)