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)