Taxi cooperative urged to settle dispute

Taxi cooperative urged to settle dispute

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City Council Commission B on economic affairs suggested that
disputing parties within the Kosti Jaya taxi cooperative settle
their differences internally and peacefully through talks, during
which they should take into consideration the law on
cooperatives.

The suggestion was made following a hearing on Thursday with
Commission B, both disputing parties and the head of the city
Office of the State Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium
Enterprises, Syamsu Hilataha.

The taxi cooperative currently has two chairmen following an
extraordinary members meeting last Nov. 21 that replaced the
leadership of Warsono and eight other executives.

Warsono, however, has reportedly refused to step down, saying
that the November meeting was illegal and it would therefore be
better to wait for the annual members meeting due in two months'
time.

The new management, however, said that the meeting was legal
because more than 10 percent of Kosti's 3,600 members requested
that the extraordinary members meeting take place as required by
Kosti's statutes.

"More than 400 members requested an extraordinary members
meeting, meaning it was legal," the new management chairman,
Ruhiyat, told councillors.

"That's why we asked Pak Syamsu to issue a decision on whether
the extraordinary members meeting was legal or not.

"But he seemed to side with the old management, which was
tainted with corruption," he added.

Syamsu, however, agreed with the Warsono camp that the meeting
was not legal, saying it was not in accordance to Law No. 25 on
cooperatives.

After the hearing, commission chairman Syarif Zulkarnaen
instructed Syamsu to issue an official consideration on whether
the extraordinary members meeting was legal.

"Your agency must also facilitate a meeting between both camps
to find a solution," he told Syamsu.