109 buses run out of fuel, stop operating

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 06/12/2009 2:44 PM  |  City

Transjakarta buses on Corridor 4 to Corridor 7 stopped operating for several hours Thursday due to a lack of fuel, following a late payment from the Transjakarta busway management body (BLU). The 109 stopped buses were operated and supplied by PT Jakarta Trans Metropolitan (JTM) and PT Jakarta Mega Trans (JMT).

JTM operational director IGN Oka said he usually paid a minimum deposit of Rp 300 million (US$29,700) every 10 days to compressed-natural gas (CNG) station on Jl. Pemuda but he had not delivered the deposit for the last 20 days.

"We didn't have the budget to pay the deposit because the BLU did not pay us in April and May. This has happened over and over again and it makes business hard for us."

He said the BLU had not paid around Rp 12 billion to JTM and another Rp 12 billion to JMT.

Oka said he later managed to assure the gas station management the consortium would be able to pay them after BLU head Daryati Asrining Rini told him she would settle the payment next Monday.

"Our buses started to get the gas at 4 p.m. after we told the stations we would get the payment on Monday," he said, adding such late payments barely occurred last year.

Daryati could not be reached for confirmation Thursday, while BLU control manager Gunardjo said he had no idea about the late payment.

Oka said JTM's 55 buses and JMT's 54 buses earlier operated in the morning, but when the buses were low on fuel and headed to the gas station on Jl. Pemuda at 11 a.m., the station's officer rejected them. All buses ran out of fuel by 2 p.m.

"I understand the gas station management had no assurance as we did not pay our deposit. They tolerated the late deposit for 20 days."

JTM owns buses on Corridor 4 (Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta-Dukuh Atas, Central Jakarta) and Corridor 6 (Ragunan-Kuningan, South Jakarta), while JMT provides buses for Corridor 5 (Ancol, North Jakarta-Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta) and Corridor 7 (Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta-Kampung Melayu).

Due to the incident, a number of Transjakarta users heading to Kampung Melayu were delayed at the PGC shelter in East Jakarta at noon.

Gunardjo deployed buses from other corridors to assist, including 10 buses from Corridor 1, two buses from Corridor 2 and a bus from JTM to help Corridor 4.

Nurmansjah Lubis, a member of Commission the City Council said such a late payment should not have happened if there was a well-planned reimbursement system.

"The CNG payment has been included in the regional budget, so there is no excuse for late payment," he via text message, adding if all administrative requirements were fulfilled, the operators would be eligible for the payment.

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