Ticketed drivers need middleman
By Multa Fidrus
JAKARTA (JP): Violating a traffic regulation here does not always mean that you will be ticketed as the police officer might prefer to settle the case "amicably" with the traffic offender having to fork out tens of thousands of rupiah.
But even if you are ticketed, you do not have to go to court to attend the hearing and get your driver's license back as it is likely that the officer would be more than happy to get it for you.
And in the case of public minivan drivers in Pasar Minggu terminal in South Jakarta, they know whom to turn to when they are ticketed.
Meet Agus Arief, 38, a former thug at the terminal who now acts as a middleman to help drivers dealing with officers at police substations or with the district courts to get their licenses back.
"I have done this job since 1990. Most police officers and minivan drivers around the Pasar Minggu area know me and so do the (South Jakarta) district court staff," he told The Jakarta Post.
Agus is actually an employee of Purimas Jaya Cooperative, one of public minivan operators in the city. All minivans passing the Pasar Minggu terminal are members of this cooperative and each time they pass the terminal they have to pay Rp 300 to the cooperative.
"This is the fee for using the name of Purimas Jaya," Agus said.
Every day, he has to stand and walk back and forth under the burning sun, approaching public minivan drivers one by one just to collect the fee.
"Most minivan drivers are reluctant to enter the terminal, that's why I have to wait for them one by one outside the terminal," he said.
Purimas Jaya sets a target of Rp 70,000 a day to be collected from the drivers. If Agus is able to collect more, he is allowed to pocket the rest.
So, in addition to receiving a monthly salary of Rp 225,000 from Purimas Jaya, Agus can also augment his income by some Rp 35,000 daily as the money he collects always exceeds the target.
He works from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except when ticketed minivan drivers ask for his service to get back their licenses,
He said that dealing with police officers needed a high degree of patience since he had to be humble to beg the officers to return the drivers' licenses.
Moreover, most police officers are authoritarian, he said.
"When I meet a police officer, I have to be ready to listen to every bad word they say to me," he said.
He said that he took on this extra job because he took pity on the drivers.
"I just help the minivan drivers who later give me Rp 1,000 when I return their licenses," he said.
He said that if a policeman sends the license to the court, the driver must pay a fine of at least Rp 31,000. If the police officers cancel their tickets, drivers just need to pay between Rp 5,000 and Rp 7,000.
However, not all police officers are willing to compromise with drivers.
"Drivers sometimes resist and offend the officers, so that it becomes difficult for me to change the officer's mind," said Agus.
When the officers refuse the bribes, he has to go to the district court.
Holding eight licenses to be returned to drivers, Agus said that he could handle an average of 25 licenses a week.
M. Jaelani, a minivan driver, was thankful to Agus.
"We, minivan drivers, are lucky as long as Agus is still with us. His services are required by all drivers here," Jaelani told the Post.
Jaelani said that in a week, he was ticketed an average of three times, for violating traffic regulations.
He said that he asked for Agus' help because if he had to go through the correct procedures, he would have to spend up to Rp 150,000 out of his weekly earnings of only Rp 210,000.
He said that a public minivan driver could bring home Rp 35,000 a day at the most.
An officer at Pasar Minggu Police subprecinct said that if a policeman canceled the ticket, this was merely for humanitarian reasons, not because of the money.
"We realize that minivan drivers cannot earn much money. We even know most of them share one vehicle with others. But we cannot just let drivers violate traffic regulations," said the officer, who requested anonymity.