Public transport firms call for cheap credit

JAKARTA (JP): The government has been urged to provide the capital's ailing public transport companies with credits to enable them to buy spare parts for their vehicles.

Aip Sjarifuddin, chairman of city branch of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the credits were badly needed to help operators buy spare parts which have risen drastically in price during the economic crisis.

Aip said that he had proposed a scheme to Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Adi Sasono which would allow for the import of low cost, reconditioned spare parts.

"A new engine for a Ford Laser taxi, for example, now costs Rp 9 million. A reconditioned engine only costs Rp 3.5 million," he said.

He said a new minibus engine now cost between Rp 18 million and Rp 20 million but could be matched in performance by a reconditioned engine bought for half that price.

"If public transport vehicle owners are not given any help to buy spare parts then they will not be able to remain in business for much longer," he added.

He claimed that almost half of the city's 10,000-strong fleet of buses and minibuses were no longer operational.

Aip also urged the government to provide a low-interest credit facility to the owners of public transport vehicles.

"Interest should be no more than 16 percent per annum," he added.

The cooperatives minister was in favor of the proposal, but Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan rejected it out of hand, Aip said without elaborating.

He also called for an end to the high taxes placed on the sale of minivans, which arise because the government classifies the very functional vehicles as luxury items.

La Ode Djeni Hasmar, head of Wahana Kalpika Cooperatives (KWK) which manages minivans, shared the same view. He said mikrolet (minivans) should not be classified as luxury items.

"We are forced to pay Rp 4 million in tax every time we buy a new vehicle just because they are classified as luxury items," he said.

La Ode, who is a member of the Golkar faction in the House of Representatives, said that only 20 percent of his cooperative's fleet of 4,700 vehicles were currently operating because of the spare parts crisis.

"I think we will have to stop operating within six months if things don't change," he added. (ivy)