Strike leaves passengers stranded
Strike leaves passengers stranded
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Thousands of passengers were left stranded on Monday when bus
drivers went on strike to demand that the government raise fares
following the steep fuel price increases announced on Friday.
In Medan, student Fransiska Manik found it impossible to get
to the University of North Sumatra despite waiting for a public
minivan for two hours.
"I've been standing here for two hours but no public minivan
has passed. I'm sweaty and really upset because I can't get to my
campus. And I can't afford to take a pedicab, it's so much more
expensive and I don't have the money," she told The Jakarta Post.
All bus drivers in the city went on strike on Monday, forcing
many workers and students to skip work or school.
Left with no other choice, private employee Susan took a
pedicab to work. "I had to take a pedicab even though it cost Rp
6,000, much more than Rp 1,400 I usually pay on a public
minivan," said the resident of Padang Bulan.
Strike coordinator B. Situmeang said the strike would continue
until the government set new fares to adjust to the higher fuel
prices.
One public minivan driver, Asno Susanto, said the increase had
cost him money. "I've lost money, since I need Rp 70,000 a day to
buy fuel but don't earn that much since fares have remained the
same," Asno said.
The head of Medan's Transportation Office, Aslan Harahap, said
the administration would discuss increasing public transportation
fares with representatives from the Organization of Land
Transportation Owners (Organda), the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation and other relevant organizations.
"My office is waiting for Organda's proposal on new fares.
After that we'll meet to set them," Harahap said, adding that the
meeting was expected to take place on Tuesday.
He said the new fares would reflect the Ministry of
Transportation's policies, prices of spare parts and operational
costs. "The increase could be around 40 percent at most," he
said.
Protests also took place in Pekanbaru and Makassar, where
dozens of drivers forced passengers out of their buses while they
demanded that the city administrations set new fares.
In Palu, public transportation drivers charged passengers a
higher fare -- Rp 2,500 instead of the previous Rp 1,500. They
charged the higher fare after their proposed fare was rejected by
Mayor Suardin Suebo, who set the new fare at Rp 2,000.
In Kupang, drivers of city and intercity buses went on strike,
demanding the governor adjust fares in accordance with new fuel
prices.
An intercity bus driver, Mathias Nubatonis, said his income
had decreased 50 percent after the government announced the new
fuel prices. "For a trip to Kefamenanu town some 280 kilometers
away, we set a fare of Rp 20,000 per passengers. Before, we could
earn Rp 200,000 but now it's only Rp 100,000 since we spend more
money on fuel," Mathias said.
In Semarang, hundreds of bus drivers went on strike and parked
their vehicles outside the Semarang mayor's office. The drivers
demanded the city administration raise fares from the current Rp
1,500 per passenger to Rp 2,000.
Some 500 members of the National Workers Union also staged a
noisy protest in the city on Monday, demanding the government
raise their wages to at least Rp 1 million to help them deal with
escalating prices following the fuel price increases.
"Fuel prices are so high, workers are becoming more wretched.
The governor should issue a new regulation on workers' wages,"
said the secretary of the union's Central Java chapter, Nanang
Setyono.
The workers also urged state electricity company PLN not to
raise electricity rates.