Sutiyoso refuses to backpedal on pedicabs

JAKARTA (JP): An emotional demonstration by about 200 pedicab drivers yesterday failed to persuade Governor Sutiyoso to allow the vehicles to operate in the city until the economic crisis is over.

Sutiyoso insisted his much-ridiculed backpedal which revoked his own six-day-old decision to allow drivers of pedicabs (becak) to earn a living in the city was final.

Elsewhere, the army major general told reporters he had no intention of meeting the protesters' demand.

"If I allow them to operate, they will again violate the condition I set (to operate only in alleys and small streets)."

The protest was the third in two weeks at the City Council over Sutiyoso's decision. Also yesterday, a similar number of pedicab drivers held a protest at the House of Representatives over the same demand.

The city's security authorities are scheduled to crack down today on operators of becak, a popular mode of transportation in housing areas.

The protesters, organized just one day before, demanded to meet with officials to discuss their grievances.

When they did eventually meet with officials in charge of social order, the drivers' representatives charged that Sutiyoso was wishy-washy and this had caused their plight.

"All this confusion resulted from a decision that Governor Sutiyoso took without consideration," said one representative, Trisno. "The governor shouldn't have talked nonsense."

From various provinces, the drivers maintained their demand that they be allowed to work in the capital during the crisis.

An official of the social order office, Soedarmo, stated that the administration would stick to the City Ordinance No. 11/1988 which bans pedicabs.

At least 3,000 pedicabs have plied Jakarta streets since Sutiyoso allowed the three-wheeled vehicle to operate again in the city on June 24 after the 10-year ban.

Six days later, the governor revoked the decision on the grounds the drivers had violated regulations on restricted areas by operating not only in alleys and small streets, but on major thoroughfares as well. He declared the city should be cleared of pedicabs by the end of this month.

The administration has allocated Rp 50 million to transport the drivers and their pedicabs to their places of origin.

However, drivers said the city administration did not entirely fulfill its promise to send them home.

Driver Iwan complained yesterday that Taman Sari subdistrict officials refused to transport 40 pedicabs home on Sunday as promised.

"After neglecting us for a night in an accommodation place, officials told us they had no funds to send us home," said the 25-year-old who graduated in economics from Borobudur University in East Jakarta.

According to Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah, as of Saturday at least 501 pedicab drivers in his mayoralty had been transported back home from a total of 701.

No attention

The wife of a pedicab driver, Siti, expressed her frustration at the decision by berating officials that the administration did not pay enough attention to the poor.

She urged other drivers waiting outside City Hall to do anything possible -- including resorting to crime -- to survive the economic catastrophe when their needs were neglected by the administration.

"Let's rob or pick pockets to feed our children, it's okay if we are arrested. The city is only for the Chinese," she screamed.

Her challenge was cheered by some of the drivers who cried "yes... yes... long live becak drivers" as they pedaled their pedicabs away. (ind)