Should embassies obey parking rules?

Should embassies obey parking rules?

JAKARTA (JP): It is not yet clear if embassies in Jakarta will
have to comply with a city regulation that requires all buildings
to provide an adequate number of parking spaces for its employees
and visitors.

The city has also proposed increasing parking lot fees to Rp
5,000 per hour in order to encourage carpooling and free up space
in the lots. Because most buildings around the capital have
insufficient parking, cars are forced to park on the street,
creating further congestion.

Embassies around Jakarta have special diplomatic status and
set their own parking rules. Embassy officials stress security as
the reason why some even ban parking altogether on embassy
grounds.

The receptionist at one embassy said that one had to be
invited and cleared by security guards to park on embassy
grounds. This, she said, was done to prevent terrorism and
attempts by asylum-seekers to enter the embassy's territory.

The American Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan bans parking
on its grounds. Drivers generally park their cars in the nearby
Monas parking area, at the Gambir railway station or in any other
space they can find. They then take a three-wheeled bajaj to the
embassy.

At the Embassy of Spain on Jl. H. Agus Salim, Central Jakarta,
the staff has had to cope for years with a parking lot big enough
for only 12 cars. While guests only number a handful each day,
parking problems do arise.

"If there's a party, guests park at the nearby BPN (National
Land Agency) office," a security guard at the embassy said.

Parking at the Australian Embassy on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said is
for embassy staff only. All others are directed to nearby
buildings. Said the embassy's information officer, John Milne,
"Because of the design of the building the embassy is unable to
expand its parking facilities."

Complaint

Even embassies which do provide parking spaces complain of a
shortage.

An employee of nine years at the Canadian Embassy in Wisma
Metropolitan I says visitors to the embassy often arrive late for
their appointments.

"We call them up and they say they're still looking for a
parking space," he said from his office on Jl. Jend. Sudirman.

Years ago it was easy for employees to find parking. Now, he
said, with more and more staff having private embassy cars, many
have to park behind the World Trade Center in the middle of Wisma
Metropolitan I and II.

Ali Imran Suranata -- the safety and security manager of PT
Jakarta Land, the owner and manager of Wisma Metropolitan I and
II as well as the World Trade Center -- said his company was
doing its best to make it easier for visitors to park at the
embassy. A certain amount of parking space is rented to employees
and visitors are allocated another amount.

"We charge visitors Rp 1,000 per hour for the first four
hours, a progressive fare for the next hours and Rp 2,000 per
hour after 6 p.m.," he said, adding that at such rates the
management could not insure the cars in his lots, as many
motorists demand.

Things get more complicated, he said, when the computers
issuing tickets break down and when parking operators are new at
the job.

The company, he said, is now erecting another building behind
the World Trade Center with five levels and a 2,000-car capacity.

Both of the embassy personnel interviewed saw public
transportation as the solution. Tommy said the city should
provide more buses or have them provided by the companies that
create the most traffic. (anr)