Nia Aulia, a passenger, said that the illegal public minivans, dubbed mobil tuyul (mischievous spirit vehicles), which served the route between Cengkareng-Kamal, West Jakarta (about 10 kilometers), was the only alternative for her as there was no public vehicles serving the route. “Residents here really need them,” she said.

The Bina Sarana Informatika academy student, who takes illegal minivans every day, said she only pays Rp 2,000 (22 US cents) for one trip, which is similar to the fare of a mikrolet (public minivan). The illegal minivans operate 24 hours a day, with full occupation during rush hour in the morning (between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.) and in the afternoon (between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.).

Milus, who uses a rented car with a capacity of 12 passengers, can earn between Rp 30,000 and Rp 100,000 per day after paying the rent fee and buying the fuel. The daily rent fee is Rp 70,000, while a mikrolet driver has to pay between Rp 110,000 and Rp 120,000.

“My income depends largely on passengers’ movements. Sometimes, even though the car is full, I can earn less because many passengers stop in nearby places,” he said.

Udin, another driver, said that he set the fare as low as Rp 1,000 for a short-distance trip and did not charge children accompanied by adults. “I only charge adults, not children,” said Udin, who drives his own car. Udin said illegal vehicles had operated in the area since the 1970s. There are around 500 illegal minivans operating along the Cengkareng-Kamal route, passing Taman Palem Lestari, Menceng, and Tegal Alur, which are not served by other public vehicles. Illegal public vehicles can also be found in many other parts of the city.

Taswin, a driver serving the route of Pasar Semanan in Kalideres to the ABC intersection in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, said that he could earn more than Rp 200,000 per day. “But it depends on the season. For example, today I have had less passengers as school students are on holiday,” he said.

Taswin, who drives a new Suzuki minivan, said that he used some of the money to pay monthly installments, which cost him around Rp 1 million. He has three other cars and rents them out to his relatives. Having been in the business for about 10 years, Taswin said today around 300 minivans operate there. “Thankfully I have never been netted by the police,” he said, adding that some of his fellow-drivers had been raided and were required to pay more than Rp 100,000 each. He also claimed that drivers paid daily “security fees” of Rp 5,000 to thugs who “ruled” the area. However, during police operations they did not demand anything, he said.

The Land Transportation Division of West Jakarta Transportation Sub-agency head, P. Baihaqi, said that his office did not have the authority to take any action against illegal public vehicles in the area. “We only deal with legal public vehicles, while the illegal ones should be handled by the police,” he said.

Baihaqi claimed that his office had cooperated with the police to address the issue several years ago.

“However, the police didn’t really support us. They worried that banning the operation of illegal vehicles would incite social unrest,” he said. (lnd)

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