Sacked driver sues public bus firm

JAKARTA (JP): A bus driver is suing the state-owned bus company management, PPD, for firing him after being involved in an accident last year.

Yance Runtu, who started working for PPD in 1973, asked the company to revoke his dismissal, demanded that his name be cleared, and that he be given back pay since September last year until a final court decision is reached.

Both PPD management and Yance presented evidence in the form of documents to the team of judges led by Judge Marina Sidabutar at the Jakarta State Administrative Court yesterday.

In an indictment filed by lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Yance said that on Jan. 6 last year he admitted the bus to the bus service station for mechanical trouble. After repairs the bus was declared fit for operation.

Three days later, however, the bus' steering wheel came off when Yance was driving through Jalan Raya Bogor in East Jakarta, causing him to lose control of the bus and hit minibuses and a house, injuring several people.

A mechanic who arrived at the site after the accident diagnosed a mechanical failure in the steering wheel.

After the accident, Yance was grounded. In August last year, Yance was notified by the company that he would be fired soon but he was advised at the same time to submit a plea that he should not be fired.

On Sept. 4, however, Yance was fired, and told in a notice that he had committed a severe violation and that therefore his allowance and severance pay would not be granted. Yance's salary was Rp 143,990.

Yance told The Jakarta Post that it has been difficult for him to find witnesses willing to testify in court, because they were all frightened of possible sanctions by the company.

The court hearing was adjourned until next Wednesday. (14)