GOVT TO CUT TRANSPORTATION FARES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec. 22 (ANTARA) - Commuters and other public transportation users are likely to enjoy as a 'gift' a transportation fare cut at the end of this year, after the government announced on Sunday it was going to lower public transportation fares in the country by about 5.22 percent.

        Probably it is a small 'gift,' yet the fare cuts would at least reduce the burden of commuters and other public transportation users, particularly after transportation fares were raised by about 20 percent last June.

        "We have calculated that we can cut transportation fares by up to 5.22 percent," Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal said Sunday.

        The government's plan to lower public transportation fares follows its decision recently to cut fuel oil prices amid the steep fall of the world crude in the world market from US$147 a barrel in July to about US$40 per barrel this month.

        The government on Monday last week lowered the prices of premium gasoline from Rp5,500 per liter to Rp5,000 and diesel oil from Rp5,500 a liter to Rp4,800 per liter.

        The lowering of the premium gasoline price was taken for the second time this month. On December 1, it also cut gasoline price from Rp6,000 per liter to Rp5,500.

        As subsidized premium and diesel oil prices were lowered, calls for cuts in public transportation were also raised by the public.

        "Some administrations were quick to response to the fuel price cuts and have been calculating new transportation fares," Minister Jusman Syafii Jamal said.

        The minister, however, said that the regional administration would decide their own inter-city and inner city transportation fares. "West Java administration, for example, has proposed a 4 to 5 percent transportation cut. The new fares are waiting to be approved," he said.

        The cuts by an average of 5.22 percent in transportation fares are smaller than the average 20 percent increase (in Jakarta) last July. The increase by 20 percent was set by the Jakarta regional government based on suggestions made by the Jakarta Transportation Council and proposed to the city councilors.

        The transportation fares were increased in July in response to the government's decision to raise domestic fuel oil prices a month earlier.

        The government increased the prices of premium gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene by an average of 28.7 percent (respectively from Rp4,500 to Rp6,000 per liter, from Rp4,300 to Rp5,500 and from Rp2,000 to Rp2,500).

        As a result, the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) threatened to unilaterally raise public transportation fares by 40 to 50 percent, or call a nation-wide strike if in a week's time the government did not set a fair rate.

        "We are resolved to stage a nation-wide strike. We will do it so that passengers no longer need to pay the arbitrarily inflated fares as they do now. The public was already carrying a heavy economic burden so we should not add to their hardships," Organda Chairman Murphy Hutagalung said at that time.

        As alternative, Organda also proposed a subsidy which was equal to the amount of the difference between the old and new fuel oil price hikes.

        The requested subsidy for premium gasoline, for example, is Rp1,500 which is the difference between its old price of Rp4,500 and its new one Rp6,000.

        The tug-of-war between the government and Organda on transportation fare rates was ended with a decision to raise them by about 20 percent.

        The July tariff rates were fixed at Rp2,400 (students are to pay Rp700 only) for express buses and Rp2,280 for regular buses (students would pay only rp700) and Rp2,900 for small buses (minivans).

        Now that the fuel oil prices, including that of diesel oil which is used by many transportation vehicles, have been lowered, the government is also now planning to cut transportation fare rates.

        "The average rational cut is 5.22 percent," Transportation Minister Syafii Jamal said.

        He said that he had asked governors in the country to adjust transportation fare rates to the central government's decision in their respective regions.

        The minister said that one of the regional administrations which had been very quick in responding to the new policy was the West Java regional government. In the Bandung city, capital of West Java, transportation fares have been cut by about Rp500.

        The lowering of transportation fares in West Java was decided in a discussion that involved the Transportation Service Office of the Transportation Ministry, the Organda, the Indonesian Consumers Institute (YLKI) and the Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD).

        "We have decided a cut by about 4-5 percent in public transpiration fares. The decision is now waiting for the endorsement of the West Java governor," Head of West Java Transportation Service Herli Suherli said.     (T.A014/A/A014/A/F001) 22-12-2008 13:23:02