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akarta traffic has long been associated with the diabolical Metromini. The ubiquitous orange minibuses belching thick black smoke have a reputation for their reckless drivers and lack of roadworthiness, an abomination to other motorists.

But many Metrominis could be off the streets in short order if their operators fail to heed warnings sent by the city administration.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency has warned the bus operators to abide by Law No.22/2009 on Traffic and Public Transportation, which stipulates that public transportation services must be provided by either state– or regional–owned enterprises or corporate bodies.

“We have sent three warnings. There are another five to go. We plan to revoke Metrominis’ operational licenses if they fail to comply with our latest warning letter,” agency head Udar Pristono was quoted as saying by beritajakarta.com over the weekend.

Although the deadline for the operators is still unclear as there has yet to be a ministerial regulation to implement the law, Udar argued that the establishment of legal entities to operate the minibuses would ease the administration’s supervision of them.

Currently, the minibuses are managed by individuals.

“[The operators] should form a legal entity to operate the minibuses and get them registered. We assure you that with this mechanism, the public transportation service in the city will be much better and more professional,” Udar said.

He said that as corporate bodies, the operators would be required to provide a better service to passengers, as well as a bus pool and garage, with professional human resources.

“All drivers will have to possess driver’s licenses,” he added.

Udar suggested that Metrominis might still operate through other corporations if their owners failed to establish their own company.

Jakarta Transportation Council member Azas Tigor Nainggolan, who is also a Metromini operator, said that all of the bus owners had already formed a cooperative.

However, he said, having been required by the administration to form legal entities to continue operations, the stakeholders were currently “going their separate ways”, which might further hamper the efforts to improve the service.

The cooperative management had long been ramshackle and the members kept complaining about it, said Azas.

“The management focuses more on internal issues and neglects the members’ interests,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

However, instead of finding a way to resolve the issue, Azas said the bus owners had gone their separate ways and run their businesses individually.

“The management should have talked together. But they never did that, they didn’t pay any attention to the issue and just ran their own business,” he said.

Azas lauded the agency’s plan to improve the public transportation service, emphasizing however that the regulation should not kill off the Metromini business.

“This [plan] is good, for revitalization and to improve the service. But if the owners can’t fulfill the regulations, I suggest the Jakarta administration take over the business,” he said.

“If they killed off the business, just count how many people would lose their jobs,” he said. (fzm)