Private parking operators meet deadline on rate

Private parking operators meet deadline on rate

JAKARTA (JP): At the eleventh hour, just before the deadline
passed on Thursday, all private city parking operators finally
complied with existing parking rate regulations. This means they
will charge customers parking fees equivalent to those set by the
city administration.

Head of City Parking Agency Yani Mulyadi went on a random tour
of several private parking areas, such as at the integrated
Mangga Dua shopping centers in West Jakarta, operated by Secure
Parking.

Yani witnessed that the private operator was charging a lower
parking fee for cars of Rp 1,000 (12 US cents) per hour as
stipulated in Gubernatorial Decree No. 1698/1999.

However, the operator still charged Rp 500 per hour for
motorcycles, while the decree stipulates that the parking fee for
motorcycles is Rp 200 per single entry.

"You must lower the fee for motorcycles now, because we have
sent you three warning letters.

"If you fail to do so, we will seal off the parking lots
today," Yani told Choidir Abdi of Secure Parking.

Choidir argued that he could not immediately lower the fee
because it was computerized and it was difficult to adjust the
system within a short period of time.

"I ask for more time, until 3 p.m. today, to change our
billing system. We can't change it just like that," he said.

"Besides, I'm just an operator who has to follow orders from
my superior and the head office," he added.

Parking lots operated by Secure Parking, owned by PT Sekurindo
Packatama Indonesia, had previously taken a firm stance of not
lowering the parking fees.

Yani, who is an Army colonel, refused to give any further
time, and set a 2 p.m. deadline instead.

"You only have 45 minutes. If you fail, we will seal off the
parking equipment," he said bluntly.

"We will still show some mercy here to avoid any clashes," he
then told reporters.

Choidir's superior, Abdurrahman, who appeared later,
guaranteed the officials that the fee would be lowered at 2 p.m.

The operators gradually lowered the fee to Rp 200 per hour and
then Rp 200 per single entry at precisely 2 p.m.

Yani later told reporters that his office would continue to
monitor all private parking lots, even though they had agreed to
comply with the city rulings.

"If we find any defiant parking lots on Friday, we will simply
seal off their parking booths and machines," he said.

Apart from the officials' maneuvers to uphold parking
regulations in the city, the Jakarta State Administrative Court
initiated on Thursday the hearing of a lawsuit filed by the
city's private parking operators.

The lawsuit, filed with the court on Monday, challenges the
city administration's decision to take firm action against
defiant private parking operators which fail to adjust their
parking rates in accordance with those set by the administration.
(nvn)