Hundreds of becak (pedicab) drivers in Semarang staged a rally in front of the mayor’s office on Tuesday in protest against frequent raids by municipal public order officers (Satpol PP) claiming violence and brutality.

The pedicab drivers claim that public order officers have vandalized pedicabs and forcibly confiscated them.

“We beg them not to mark our pedicabs because it makes them look dirty. They say they only want to supervise us, so why do they have to damage our vehicles?” said Haryadi, whose pedicab had been confiscated, at a hearing with Satpol PP and the transportation agency in Semarang on Tuesday.

 For the last month Satpol PP has targeted pedicab drivers waiting for passengers along the city’s main thoroughfares. They are considered to damage the city’s image and cause traffic congestion.

Over 40 pedicabs have been seized. To get their cabs backs, owners are obliged to fill in personal data forms and promise not wait for passengers on main streets.

Wahyu Nandang of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Semarang said that pedicab drivers deserved to be treated the same way as any other workers.

Satpol PP, according to Wahyu, has acted inappropriately as no bylaw or mayoral regulation stops pedicab drivers operating in busy streets.

“Harassing them undervalues the profession of pedicab drivers,” said Wahyu.

Article 27 (2) of the 1945 Constitution guarantees citizens the right to decent work without discrimination.

Meanwhile, head of Satpol PP operations, Aniceto Magno, said that raids were a last resort and previous warnings had been ignored. “We have warned them over 30 times.”

He admitted that there was indeed no bylaw on which the raids were based.

Satpol PP and the municipal transportation agency had planned to oblige pedicab drivers to paint all the pedicabs the same colors, to wear a uniform and traditional headgear locally known as caping.

The same system already applies in Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

City transportation agency secretary Agus Harmunanto said that bringing order to the streets was not just about pedicab drivers but also other vehicles parked haphazardly along the streets.

“The raids were made in the public interest. We understand that pedicab drivers need to work to earn a living, but they also must bear in mind the comfort of other road users by not waiting for passengers wherever they please,” he said.

Pedicab driver Purwanto said that they understood that the raids were made for public order purposes and called on Satpol PP to disseminate information regarding the program prior to the raids by, for example, placing signs in places where pedicabs are not supposed to stop.

“We are in full support of the government’s supervision program but everything must be conducted peacefully,” Purwanto said.

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