Tangerang halts illegal levies

Tangerang halts illegal levies

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang municipal administration agreed on Friday to
temporarily stop collecting a road use levy imposed on truck
drivers following the attacks on 16 collection booths by angry
drivers.

"The levies have been halted for an unspecified amount of
time. The administration will reevaluate the system and the
security factors," administration spokesman Hery Kusnady told The
Jakarta Post.

The administration imposed the levy starting last month based
on Bylaw No. 3/2001 on the use of public roads.

Truck drivers had repeatedly complained about the levy, and
hundreds of angry truck drivers vandalized 16 collection booths
across town on Monday.

"The administration only thinks about revenue and they have
turned a blind eye toward people's suffering," Marwan, 34, one of
the protesting truck drivers, said.

A truck driver had to pass several collection booths in a day,
and each time he was charged between Rp 2,500 and Rp 7,500.

Meanwhile, Tangerang Police chief of detectives Insp. Chandra
Sukma Kumara said the police had yet to receive any complaints
from the agency in connection with the vandalism.

However, Chandra did not blame the drivers.

"It's understandable if truck drivers become angry and run
amok. Can you imagine, they must pay between Rp 2,500 and Rp
7,500 at each booth they pass. How much money can they bring home
to their families?" he said.

Separately, the head of the municipal Land Transportation
and Infrastructure Subagency, Ato Nuryanto, said the agency had
collected Rp 239.1 million out of the Rp 1.5 billion estimated to
be collected until December this year.

He said that the drivers had severely damaged 11 of the 16
collection booths in town, and destroyed one of the agency's
minivans. They also mobbed two officers, he said, adding that one
of the officers had lost his cellular phone and Rp 650,000 in
cash during the incident.