Transportation loans badly needed

JAKARTA (JP): An executive of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) expressed concern on Monday over the slow disbursement of loans worth Rp 56.3 billion (US$7.5 million) pledged by the government to help the ailing transportation sector.

"We've held meetings several times to discuss the disbursement, but it has not been realized up to now," Aip Syaifuddin, head of Organda Jakarta, said.

"Coordination meetings have been held three times with transportation businesspeople, once with city-owned Bank DKI which is in charge of channeling the loans, a few times with Organda board members and Bank DKI, and four times with the central bank," he said.

He acknowledged that he had become bored with the meetings as there had been no realization of what had been decided.

In line with a memorandum of understanding between representatives of Organda and officials of the directorate general of land transportation, the central bank and 13 regional development banks, the loans should have been disbursed starting the middle of this month.

If the banks in charge of channeling the loans themselves had called for disbursement, the central bank should have immediately responded, Aip was quoted by Antara as saying.

The Rp 56.3 billion in loans to be given to 15 public transportation cooperatives/companies in the Jakarta area is part of the total Rp 94.1 billion loans with an annual interest of only 6.5 percent pledged by the government in 15 cities throughout the country, Aid said.

The Rp 56.3 billion loans will be channeled to transportation businessmen to enable them to buy spare parts amid the skyrocketing prices due to the economic crisis, he said.

Out of the Rp 56.3 billion, Rp 35.57 billion will be used to finance the maintenance of 3,175 wide-bodied buses and Rp 20.75 billion for minibuses, he said. (hhr)