TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Kids say poverty pushes them to drive public buses
Sixteen-year-old Randa relaxed in the driverâs seat of a Metro Mini bus on route S62, traveling from Manggarai Bus Station to Pasar Minggu Bus Terminal in South Jakarta, while waiting for passengers in Manggarai on Thursday
Change Size
S
ixteen-year-old Randa relaxed in the driver's seat of a Metro Mini bus on route S62, traveling from Manggarai Bus Station to Pasar Minggu Bus Terminal in South Jakarta, while waiting for passengers in Manggarai on Thursday.
Although his driving was competent, his young age was apparent from his small build and innocent face.
There are many underage Metro Mini, angkot (public minivan) and Kopaja drivers in Jakarta who have been driving for years and have somehow managed to escape the police.
'I've been driving Metro Mini and angkot for about a year. I've been caught once by the police. They gave me a warning and made me write a statement declaring I wouldn't drive again,' Randa told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He was behind the wheel again a few days later.
Randa said he was an unofficial driver, locally known as 'supir tembak', without a Metro Mini or angkot driver's permit or a driver's license as he was underage.
He said he cut his education short after elementary school to make money and that his parents did not have enough money to pay his tuition fee.
It was not until early last year ' when he was 15 ' that he started driving the public buses.
The legal age for a resident to own a driver's license in Indonesia is 17-years-old.
'My father and my older brother are both Metro Mini drivers. They taught me how to drive,' Randa said, adding that he wanted to make extra money for his parents and have his own money.
Randa said each day he needed to make at least Rp 300,000 (US$24.91) to give to his boss. He took home at least Rp 50,000 a day.
'I want to return to school one day, but I have to make enough money first so I can pay my tuition,' he said.
Another underage driver, 15-year-old Dwi, who has been driving for two years, said he dropped out of school to look for money.
Dwi drove on angkot route 08 from Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.
'My parents did not have enough money to pay my tuition so I dropped out of school. It was my decision,' he said.
Dwi is an unofficial driver. He said he needed to make at least Rp 300,000 a day, from which he would receive at least Rp 40,000. However, Dwi said he had no intention of returning to school.
'I'd rather be driving than begging on the streets,' he said.
Jakarta Traffic Police enforcement head Adj. Sr. Comr. Hindarsono confirmed his unit often encountered underage public transportation drivers.
'This year, my officers have caught a handful,' Hindarsono told the Post on Thursday.
'We take underage driving very seriously. Underage children driving private vehicles is dangerous, let alone driving public transport vehicles where other lives are at risk,' he said.
