Bajaj (three-wheeled taxi) owners and the People's Information Group (LIRA) held a demonstration at City Hall on Tuesday to demand transparency in the program to replace gas-powered bajaj.

The owners are members of the Indonesian Bajaj Society, the Bajaj Sehati Cooperative and the Surya Kencana Cooperative.

M. Jusuf Rizal of LIRA urged the city administration to hold an investigative audit of the 2006 procurement license given to PT Abdi Rahardja.

They said the company was supposed to have procured some 5,000 new bajaj that use compressed natural gas (CNG) but had obtained only 253 so far.

"The city administration issued another license in 2007 to the same company that allowed it to procure 4,750 bajaj over a six-month period. However, it procured only 250 units," Jusuf said.

He said the governor should order the company to either settle or return the money bajaj owners had paid to procure the CNG-based vehicles. He said they paid Rp 1.5 million per bajaj as a down payment, with some having made the deposit eighteen months ago.

Jusuf said the owners had yet to receive the new bajaj even though they had submitted their vehicles documents to the company.

"We estimate the company has received at least Rp 3 billion from owners, but so far the realization remains low," he said.

"Even though the company breached the contract, the city administration has not done anything," he added.

To reduce air pollution caused by some 14,000 smoke-belching bajaj, the city administration had targeted upgrading 5,000 old bajaj to CNG-powered ones by the end of 2007.

Deputy Governor Prijanto said he would check the cause of the late procurement.

"It depends on the agreement. If the company broke the deal, it is possible we would end the agreement. We support the CNG bajaj because this conversion program is good for the environment," Prijanto said after attending a plenary session.

Tarmidi Edy Suwarno, a councilor on the City Council's Commission B, said the city council would soon contact the company, the transportation agency and the industry and trade agency to hear explanations for the delayed procurement.

"We must not hear only from one side. We'll ask them about the bajaj procurement procedure and the import license," said Tarmidi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

According to Tarmidi, the commission would question the high taxation involved in acquiring bajaj, which included a 45 percent customs office tax and a 10 percent luxury tax.

He said the city council did not know a lot about the bajaj business because it was the first time bajaj cooperatives had come to the city council.

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