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.