Sticker project turns sticky over supervision
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers Foundation has stated that fairness in awarding tenders should be top of the agenda if the private sector is involved in managing the planned sticker system in restricted traffic areas.
Agency chairwoman Tini Hadad said Saturday that failure to do so by the city administration would draw public condemnation.
"The administration should set tough requirements for the job, and punitive actions to be taken in case the firm fails to honor its commitment should be spelled out," she told The Jakarta Post.
The administration has yet to decide whether it will involve the private sector in managing the project, which will be tried out in August.
There has been speculation that PT Wijaya Wisesa, a company owned by former Jakarta deputy governor Eddy Nalapraya, may be a front-runner for a contract.
Critics argue the sticker system will be a show of government favoritism toward the rich who can afford to buy the stickers, and that it would merely serve to divert jams from the restricted zone to other streets.
The company has reportedly proposed charging Rp 5,000 for a sticker allowing a single entry into the restricted zone, Rp 8,000 for a day pass and Rp 100,000 for one valid for a month.
The system is intended to replace the three-in-one regulation, which has been largely ineffective in easing traffic congestion. Under the system, a private car entering the restricted area should carry at least three people.
Many motorists hire the services of children, known as jockeys, to enable them to meet the 1992 stipulation. The restricted zone covers Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto.
Trials of the new system will take place in the zone from August to November on workdays from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Motorists will be required to display valid stickers on their windshields upon entering the restricted zones.
Tini said sticker prices should not be more than Rp 2,000, the amount a motorist would normally pay for a jockey in the three-in-one system.
"More expensive stickers would only make the system a privilege for the wealthy who can afford to buy them," she said. "It would be discriminative toward the ordinary people."
Rusdi Muchtar, a sociologist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, rejected the idea of using a private firm because he claimed its priority would be profit over public welfare.
"It's just natural that a company is profit-oriented," Rusdi was quoted by Antara as saying.
He said any private-sector involvement in the project would only lead to more problems, such as supervision and accountability of the funds collected from the sticker sales.
Replacing the three-in-one system with the sticker system is regrettable because of its effects on the poor, he added.
"Many poor people will lose their jobs as jockeys and the money will go to the wealthy people if the management is entrusted to a private company." (jun)