Grumpy public transportation 'heroes' complain

Evi Mariani , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 03/01/2008 3:26 AM | Headlines

The assertion made by public transportation owners that they are "heroes" seems arrogant given the public complaints of the quality of public transportation services.

"We are heroes; we have served the people, including schoolchildren, for more than 30 years. The city administration should have taken that into account instead of giving space to newcomers."

The comment was made by Herry Rotty, the chairman of Jakarta's Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), who came Wednesday to City Hall to protest public tenders for busway corridors 4 to 7.

The public tenders were made in compliance with a 2006 presidential regulation obliging government institutions to hold public tenders in procuring goods and services worth more than Rp 50 million (US$5,500).

Currently, a consortium comprising members of Organda runs 60 percent of the fleet for corridors 4 to 7. To fill the remaining space, Transjakarta and the city administration held public tenders.

Winning bus companies PT Primajasa and PT Lorena -- neither of them Organda members -- quoted four different rates for the four corridors. The new rates are all lower by 36 to 38 percent, which could mean a lower subsidy and a lighter burden on the taxpayer.

The lower rates have prompted Transjakarta to send a letter to the current bus suppliers -- PT Jakarta Trans Metropolitan and PT Jakarta Mega Trans -- saying the current, higher rates offered by both were "unsubstantiated", and therefore Transjakarta would implement the new rates.

The letter angered Organda, the consortium patron. Members came protesting to City Hall, threatening to strike if the city insists on the lower rates.

Organda's threat shows the organization's unreadiness to face a competitive market. Faced with competition, it cowered and asked protection from the city administration by threatening to strike, Organda's long-favored solution to all problems. This sulky attitude has never been popular among the public or the drivers, who stand to lose income from strikes.

But still, almost every year national or local branches of Organda threaten to strike whenever their demands are not met. Most of the demands are tariff increases, always justified by rising prices of fuel and parts.

Jakartans who have rarely heard of Organda say they would improve service and passenger safety even after one of its members caused the death of passengers when he crashed a minibus into a river.

Passengers of thousands of public transportation units in Jakarta belonging to the organization will probably have to wait another 30 years before Organda says it will provide insurance for passengers.

Perhaps another 30 years until it says it will help the city clean the air by replacing its black-smoke-fuming vehicles with cleaner ones, and another three decades until it disciplines its notoriously reckless drivers.

The inclusion of the transportation cartel to Transjakarta's more modern business culture should have helped Organda's members, and the city administration, reform themselves.

But what happened was a childish demand for the city to stop public tenders. Besides refusing public tenders, Organda's chairman also said the city administration should have entrusted 100 percent of Transjakarta's bus supply to the consortium, thus closing the possibility for new, more competitive players to enter.

Apparently in 30 years Organda has never learned a lesson. That's probably because no one ever tried to teach it how to run a modern service business. Neither the city administration nor the consumers ever put their foot down.

The city administration's compromise to look for a middle ground between the current and new rates with Organda conveyed a message to the public that the city did not have any desire to be firm with the organization.

Such a compromise would likely support Organda's regrettable behavior whenever its demands are not met. It could be safely concluded that consumers of Jakarta's public transportation will have to wait another 30 years until they can enjoy safe, comfortable and reliable public transportation in the capital.

Bearing this in mind, the chairman's claim that Organda's members are "heroes" sounds grossly off the mark.

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