Vandalism causes state bus firm Rp 810m in losses

Vandalism causes state bus firm Rp 810m in losses

JAKARTA (JP): A senior official of the state bus company PPD yesterday disclosed that vandalism resulted in Rp 810 million (US$368,181) of material and operational losses last year.

"This is a serious problem -- last year alone 1,025 of the company's buses were damaged. Not only has it caused material losses, it has also disturbed our public services," said company President Brig. Gen. Soedarko at a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission V, which oversees transportation and communications.

Others present at the hearing were managers of the state railway company (Perumka) and the state-owned Damri bus company.

Soedarko said that in 1993 a total of 1,084 buses had been damaged, resulting in some Rp 850 million of operational and material losses.

The damage to the buses ranges from broken windows to graffiti painted on the bodies of the vehicles.

He calculated that if an average of 1,075 buses were damaged by vandals each year, causing an average of Rp 830 million in losses, this meant that the company had paid Rp 2.4 billion to repair some 3,250 buses over the past three years (1992-1994).

Soetjipto, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party faction, said that "preventive and educative methods based on affection" should be used to solve the problem.

"Try to avoid repressive actions and opt instead for dialog with school student councils, for instance, so they (the vandals) are dealt with as human beings. Don't scare them," he said.

Soedarko said that of its total of 1,634 buses, PPD is currently able to operate an average of 1,010 per day and that the rest -- or 38 percent -- are either broken down, being repaired, being serviced or undergoing technical tests.

Over the last three years, the 1,010 buses have been carrying more than 550,000 passengers a day. This is only 15 percent of the total market in Greater Jakarta -- consisting mostly of the city's middle and low-income citizens -- which is estimated to be about 3.76 million people per day.

The company presently owns 1,475 Mercedes Benz buses, 140 double-decker Leyland and Volvo buses and 19 articulated Jing Hua buses. Fifty-seven percent of these are more than five years old and only nine percent are less than three years old.

Many spare parts for the Leyland double-decker buses are unavailable, he said, because the factory no longer produces the type of bus used by PPD.

Soedarko said the company suffers from an oversupply of employees or put another way, a high employee-to-fleet ratio.

The company, which has recorded losses every year for the past three years and is aiming to break even this year, spends 38 percent of its total earnings on employees' standing costs alone.

Soedarko pointed out that the low bus fare (Rp 250 or about 12 US cents) collected by about 65 percent of the company's regular buses does not cover operational costs. The fare collected from students is Rp 100.

"PPD also abides by the obligation to operate night transportation, even though it is obviously not profitable," Soedarko added. (pwn)