Souped-up 'bajaj' in bid for survival
Wahyuana, The Jakarta Post, Bekasi
A total makeover may be the answer to the prayers of bajaj drivers who don't want to lose business but at the same time are unable to replace their Indian-made three-wheelers with the expensive, locally made kancil (mini-taxi, literally means "mouse deer").
With the old bajaj being condemned as an irredeemable polluter, the new, improved bajaj is a more economical and environmentally friendly vehicle, and also offers more comfort to driver and passengers alike.
Powered by a 150cc four-stroke engine that runs on gasoline -- which is more powerful, yet much cleaner and quieter than the two-stroke engine used by the old ones -- the new bajaj are also air-conditioned.
"It costs a total of Rp 11 million (US$1,222) to modify a bajaj, including accessories such as radio, plus another Rp 4 million to install a conversion kit to enable the vehicle to run on compressed natural gas (CNG), if you want it.
"It is much cheaper than buying a Rp 45 million kancil, but worth the effort to meet the city administration's requirements for public transportation vehicles," the brain behind the "bajaj revolution", FX Jacobus Yut, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Jacobus, who is head of the public minivan and three-wheeled vehicles unit of the Jakarta branch of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), owns the Eva Maria Garage in Kranji, Bekasi, which now specializes in modifying bajaj.
However, Jakarta's bajaj are not in the fast lane just yet.
City Bylaw No. 12/2003 on transportation refers to community service vehicles, which are defined as passenger vehicles serving restricted areas. This category excludes three-wheeled vehicles.
As part of its effort to gradually eliminate bajaj from city streets, the Jakarta administration has been introducing the more spacious, 400cc four-stroke, four-wheel kancil over the past six months.
Jacobus's optimism was triggered by the warm applause he received from City Council members during a demonstration at the council's headquarters on Tuesday, which was followed by a visit by councilors to his garage on Thursday.
"The chairman of the council's Commission D, Sayogo Hendrosubroto, even suggested that we paint the new bajaj red and white, and that we widen the body so that it can take more than two passengers," he said.
The chairman of the Organda members' empowerment unit, Hizar Gultom, said that the organization had introduced the new bajaj to all 4,000 bajaj owners and 50,000 drivers. He said there were 15,000 bajaj in the capital, with each bajaj being driven by between two and four drivers in rotation every day.
"We hope the administration may reconsider this ... the kancil is too expensive and we can't just dump the old vehicles. The modified one provides answers to all the administration's complaints about bajaj," he said.
Should the Jakarta administration agree, Organda will start to modify the first 1,000 bajaj within the next three months, with the plan being that all bajaj in the city will be modified within two-and-a-half years.
Jacobus and Hizar revealed that Organda would cooperate with three Chinese engine producers for the supply of engines at relatively affordable prices.
"The new bajaj has also obtained the support of the Association of Indonesian Mechanical Engineers, which usually gives accreditation for innovations in automotive engineering," Hizar said.