Jakarta residents lambasted Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan after he announced on Thursday a ban on app-based ojek (motorcycle taxis)
akarta residents lambasted Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan after he announced on Thursday a ban on app-based ojek (motorcycle taxis). The circular was withdrawn on Friday afternoon after President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and many citizens reacted negatively to the ban.
Media industry social media officer Margarita Putri, for example, said that she questioned the ban, which she called a 'late measure'.
'I was shocked when I read the news for the first time. Why did he implement the ban now, when most people already depend on the app-based ojek?' Putri told The Jakarta Post on Friday. 'I have been using ojek services not only for commuting, but also to order food.'
Putri added that she liked app-based ojek because of the transparent kilometer-based rate system.
Hospital employee Sherin Gabreila Tjali also said that she strongly disagreed with Jonan's decision as app-based ojek had been an effective alternative transportation for people in bustling cities such as Jakarta.
She said that although app-based ojek could not be categorized as public transportation, their ability to beat Jakarta's nightmarish traffic had led her to use the service for her daily commute from her house in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, to her workplace in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.
She suggested that if the government wanted to ban app-based ojek, it had to improve the safety and comfort of existing public transportation beforehand, so that the commuters would be willing to shift from ojek to public buses.
Similarly, Go-Jek driver Yoyok said that the government should have taken care of existing public buses, which were notorious for their recklessness, poor conditions and bad management, rather than banning app-based ojek, which were managed more effectively.
Yoyok added that the ban would only increase the number of jobless people in the country.
Commenting on the ban, Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said that as governor, he would comply with the regulation set by the ministry.
Ahok added that car-booking applications should be regulated by the government. 'We can change the cars into taxis by allowing them to take a roadworthy [KIR] test and obliging them to pay taxes,' he said.
As for the motorcycle services, Ahok said it was problematic. 'It is like you have a son but do not acknowledge him,' he said.
He added that ojek had undeniably helped residents. 'I think as long as they do not violate the regulations, it is fine,' Ahok said.
Transportation expert Danang Parikesit from Masyarakat Transportasi Indonesia said that the essential problem in this case was the government's failure to fulfill its obligation to provide proper public transportation.
'That's why app-based transportation services have emerged, including unregulated transport modes such as ojek,' he said.
Danang said that the government should embrace technological developments. 'The Philippines, for example, has adopted information technology applications as a [public] transportation category and made regulations covering them,' he said.
Discussions about Jonan's controversial decision also went viral on social media.
Tito Dipokusumo, one of those opposing the ban, wrote via his Path account that Jonan should support app-based ojek as they were a form of innovation that the country needed in the current digital era.
'Digital start-up innovation is 10 steps ahead of [government] regulations. The government should accommodate them in regulations, instead,' Tito said. 'The digital era is a trend we cannot avoid.' (agn)
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