The Story of Rustam Rachmat, Boss of Secure Parking: Cheated by Contractor When Starting Out, Now Managing 1,700 Locations

Jakarta — Behind approximately 1,700 parking locations now managed by Secure Parking across various cities in Indonesia lies a long journey filled with perseverance, setbacks, and the courage to start from scratch.

Rustam Rachmat, President Director of PT Securindo Packatama Indonesia (Secure Parking), recounted that the business, which has now grown substantially, began with an empty plot of land that was even more commonly known as a rubbish dumping site.

He shared this story during a visit from Kompas.com to his office in the Mangga Besar area, West Jakarta, on Monday, 9 March 2026.

In his neatly arranged office, Rustam explained that the idea to start a parking business emerged in 1992, when the concept of professional parking management or parking outsourcing was still very foreign to Indonesia.

At that time, in a corner area behind Hayam Wuruk, Central Jakarta, he spotted an opportunity that many others did not see.

“The place was empty land back then, even used as a dumping site. But in that area, the demand for parking was very high because the surrounding buildings were full,” he recalled.

The land turned out to belong to a satay seller whom he frequently visited. From casual conversations, a simple idea emerged: to turn the land into a parking facility.

“I told the land owner, what if we manage this place as a parking lot? You also won’t need to spend money to keep guard so people don’t dump rubbish here,” said Rustam.

In the early stages, the partnership with the land owner was conducted very simply. Rustam admitted that at that time he did not have sufficient capital to commercially lease the land.

Instead, he managed the land while ensuring it remained clean and safe.

“If calculated commercially, it actually didn’t work out. So it was more like pocket money for the land owner. What mattered was that the place was well-maintained and no longer a dumping site,” he said.

Parking operations back then were also very basic. Only one or two officers would be stationed at the location.

“It was still manual, with staff on duty and sometimes we had to push cars to fit them in,” Rustam said with a smile.

When he planned to level the first parking lot, he hired a contractor. However, the plan ended in fraud.

“Back then we used a contractor, but it turned out we were cheated. The contractor left with the money,” Rustam revealed.

Limited funds meant he had no other choice but to continue the work himself.

“There was no more money left, so I levelled the land myself. That was truly the beginning from the very beginning,” he said.

The first three years of running the parking business were also extremely difficult. At that time, many people did not even understand the concept of professional parking management.

“People didn’t know what a parking manager was. So those first three years were very tough,” said Rustam.