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Protest against ride-hailing apps in Makassar turns ugly

Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post)
Makassar
Wed, November 1, 2017

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Protest against ride-hailing apps in Makassar turns ugly Hundreds of angkot (public minivan) and motorized becak (pedicab) drivers take to the street of South Sulawesi's provincial capital of Makassar on Wednesday, in a protest against online ride-hailing companies. (The Jakarta Post/Andi Hajramurni)

T

he newly enacted Transportation Ministry regulation on ride-hailing applications failed to immediately put tensions to rest as protests by both conventional and online public transportation services took place in some cities on Wednesday.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, hundreds of conventional transportation drivers held a rally in front of South Sulawesi governor office, demanding the provincial administration to immediately issue a policy to limit the number of vehicles using the app-based services in the province, despite the new regulation that came into force the same day.

“We have suffered decreasing income ever since online taxi's began operating in Makassar about a year ago,” said Hamzah, one of the protesters.

Some of the protesters turned the peaceful rally into a violent one by throwing stones at a passing car.

The windshield of a minivan is shattered during a protest in front of the South Sulawesi Governor’s Office in Makassar on Wednesday. The demonstration turned ugly after hundreds of protesters, mostly angkot (public minivan) and motorized becak (pedicab) drivers, began throwing rocks at cars believed to be employed by online ride-hailing companies.
The windshield of a minivan is shattered during a protest in front of the South Sulawesi Governor’s Office in Makassar on Wednesday. The demonstration turned ugly after hundreds of protesters, mostly angkot (public minivan) and motorized becak (pedicab) drivers, began throwing rocks at cars believed to be employed by online ride-hailing companies. (The Jakarta Post/Andi Hajramurni)

The chairman of the Land Transportation Organization Makassar, Zainal Abidin, said there were some 12,000 vehicles employed by app-based services.

Conventional transportation in the city currently consisted of 2,000 taxis, 4,000 angkot (public minivans) and 24,000 becak motor (motorized tricycles).

Read also: Councillors’ cars to be rented out to online-ride hailing operators: Sandiaga

In response to the protest, South Sulawesi Transportation Agency Head Ilyas Iskandar said the ministerial regulation would be implemented in the province. All cars employed by online-based services would also be required to register.

"At the moment, only half of the 2,000 conventional taxis in Makassar are still in operation. While, of the 10,000 online-based cars, only 1,000 have been registered," Ilyas said. (bbs)

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