T

he government's plan to charge higher prices for private car fuel, while keeping rates for motorcycles and public minivans the same, has led to various responses from city residents, most of whom support the dual pricing plan.

Odoy, 63, of Kemanggisan subdistrict in West Jakarta, who has a car and a motorcycle, said he would accept new fuel prices as long as the supply was sustainable.

'The price hike may also force some vehicle owners to shift to mass transportation, which is a good thing,' he said on Wednesday, adding that vehicle owners must consider using non-subsidized fuel.

Irfan, 30, a courier, said he would use public transportation if he could no longer afford fuel for his
motorcycle.

'But the Jakarta administration should also be consistent in revitalizing its public transport. That way, people like me need not worry about fuel price hikes,' he said.

'The dual pricing scheme might be good, if implemented properly. Like now, cars can still purchase subsidized fuel. I guess this plan will prevent them,' he added.

Nurdin, 35, a public minivan (angkot) driver, said he supported the plan, as long as stakeholders did not use the subsidy for their own
interests.

'I'm fine with the new scheme,' he said. 'The prices for [angkot] are still the same, right?'

The central government is planning to apply a dual fuel-pricing scheme in May, to differentiate prices for public transportation and motorcycles from private vehicles.

Subsidized fuel for mass transportation and motorcycles will be set at the initial price, Rp 4,500 (less than US 50 cents) per liter, while subsidized fuel for other vehicles will be set at around Rp 6,000 to Rp 7,000 per liter.

The government fears that the country's subsidized fuel consumption will reach 48.5 million kiloliters (kl) in 2013, surpassing the government's budget of 46 million kl.

Jakarta, with a high number of car and motorcycle users, utilizes around 7 percent of the total, or around 3.2 million kl.

Deputy Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama stated earlier this week that the city administration would support the plan by providing more Transjakarta buses.

He said Jakarta was looking to have an additional 1,000 Transjakarta buses by the end of 2013, to preempt car owners shifting to motorcycles, with some of the buses already on the road.

Several gas stations in the city, however, differed on the implementation of the plan.

The supervisor of a private-owned gas station at Jl. Otto Iskandar Dinata in East Jakarta, Rizal, said the separation plan would not have a big impact on gas stations. He was optimistic the plan would not affect their profit, 'as long as cars are still running on the streets'.

However, Darul, the manager of a gas station owned by Pertamina at Jl. HR Rasuna Said, Kuningan, said the plan might affect profits.

'If this gas station is one that sells fuel for private cars, then we will lose our customers who drive motorcycles,' Darul told The Jakarta Post. According to Darul, motorcycles consumed 16 percent of the total amount of fuel sold per day.

He said his gas station might be allocated as a station selling fuel at higher prices because it was located in Kuningan, the location of many embassies and office buildings. (nai)