Sutiyoso, Luhut to discuss imported buses from China

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday he would meet with Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut B. Panjaitan to discuss the city administration's plan to import 3,000 buses from China.

"I have to explain to Pak Luhut why we have to import the buses from China, and discuss whether the plan is feasible," Sutiyoso said on Tuesday, adding that the buses were affordable.

The governor contended his only interest in importing the buses was to replace the capital's fleet of aging buses at a reasonable price.

"We want to provide better transportation services for the public," he remarked.

In an open bid, the city administration recently appointed PT Dayu Bahtara Kurnia to oversee the purchase and shipment of the Chinese-made buses.

After being appointed the sole importer of the Chinese buses, executives of PT Dayu Bahtara Kurnia said the Chinese bus factory which produced the vehicles would provide a lifetime warranty for the buses' spare parts.

The first batch of 1,000 buses is expected to arrive in Jakarta sometime in December.

When Sutiyoso initially approved the deal, he said he would ask Luhut to lower the import taxes on the buses from the current 40 percent to 5 percent.

Late last week, however, Luhut was quoted by Warta Kota as saying he opposed the importation of the buses.

"What's going on here? (People) only want to take the easy way. If we can construct (the buses) here, why should we import them?" he asked on Friday.

But a source at Luhut's office said on Tuesday the minister had not rejected the plan.

"The minister only said the important thing was that the importer should meet the tax requirements accordingly," said the source, who refused to be named.

According to Sutiyoso, his planned meeting with Luhut would help find a solution that would accommodate the interests of both the central government and the city administration.

Prior to putting forward the proposal to import buses from China, the governor's office asked for interested parties to submit proposals for replacing the city's aging buses.

"But no one could beat the price of the Chinese buses, for vehicles of a similar quality," Sutiyoso said.

Asked about the city's plan to import used taxies from Japan, the governor said he was considering approving the proposal because the taxies were reasonably priced and came with a safety guarantee.

"I see it as advantageous for us to have the four-year-old taxies to replace our 20-year-old ones.

"Please, we have to see every policy from the positive side, not the negative," he said. (dja)