Private parking operators oppose plan to cut rate

Private parking operators oppose plan to cut rate

JAKARTA (JP): Operators of privately owned shopping centers
strongly opposed on Tuesday the city administration's plan to
order the management of all private parking lots, such as those
at shopping complexes, to lower their parking fees from next
Monday.

Contacted separately on Tuesday, executives of the Indonesian
Association of Shopping Complex Management (APPBI) and its
Jakarta chapter insisted that neither the city administration,
nor the central government, had a legal basis to force the
private sector to do such thing.

"We reject the call. The government has the authority to rule
on parking only in public areas, not in privately owned places,
such as at shopping malls and office buildings," APPBI chairman
M. Shohirin said.

APPBI chairman of the Jakarta chapter Stephanus Ridwan said
the 1997 Law on Retribution and Taxes number 18 "prohibits the
authorities to regulate private parking management."

An executive of Blok M Plaza in South Jakarta, Stephanus, said
members of his association were ready to discuss the dispute in a
round table meeting with the city administration and councilors
soon.

"But, if it fails, we'll sue them through the State
Administrative Court," he said.

Deputy Governor for Economic and Finance Affairs Fauzi Alvi
Yasin was quoted by Kompas as saying on Monday night during a
gathering with 162 representatives of the management of parking
lots that the city administration wanted operators or owners of
parking lots in private places to set the parking rate at Rp
1,000 for the first two hours and Rp 500 for each following hour
as per May 1.

The call, he said, was in line with the 1999 City Bylaw number
5 issued on Sept. 24 last year on parking issues.

"We ask the management of all private parking lots to obey the
bylaw," Fauzi said.

He said motorists were allowed from now on to reject parking
fees set by the management of private parking lots which exceeded
the rates stipulated in the bylaw.

The management of many private parking lots at office
buildings, shopping complexes and hotels in the capital have set
different tariffs, all of them much higher than the official
rate, for parking. On average, most of them set the price at
least double that of the official rate.

The public has repeatedly complained about the matter, also
saying that the management were not willing to pay compensation
for any bad things which happened to the parked vehicles.

According to Shohirin, his association condemned the
government's bid, saying that the city administration only aimed
at gaining additional revenue from the policy.

"It's an old paradigm. The government also wants to regulate
the private sector, in which the final target is money," he said.

An executive of the parking management at Plaza Indonesia,
Iskandar Himawan, joined the chorus, saying that the parking fees
in the capital should be different from one place to another.

Otherwise, he said, Plaza Indonesia would suffer major losses
if the plan took effect because the management had to pay for
electricity, security and the tidiness of the parking lots inside
the building.

"The rates should be different. The parking fees in Mangga
Besar, for example, are lower than the rate since the parking
lots are located next to the main street," Iskandar said.

Separately, the head of the City Parking Agency, Yani Mulyadi,
told reporters on Tuesday that his office would soon form a
special team, comprising representatives of the city officials,
private parking managements and other elements, such as
executives of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), which
would help promote the plan.

The team, he said, would mold input coming from parties
involved concerning the procedure and probation period.

Yani stressed that the city administration had initiated
regulations on parking because basically all building owners
should clearly define the parking lot area for tenants and
visitors before they obtained the building permits.

"Parking lots in building compounds are imperative. They are
called supportive parking lots and cars parked in them should not
be subject to fees," he said.

Private companies, he said, had apparently managed the parking
areas commercially, so that the city administration had to create
a regulation to limit the rates.

"Unless if a company sets up an area aside from the supportive
parking lot in the compound and is especially designed for
parking, they could decide the fees on their own," Yani said.
(asa/06)