Maintenance testing for public transit up in smoke

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 04/12/2008 11:17 AM

City officials have failed to enforce the roadworthiness test for Jakarta's often-smokey public transportation vehicles, Deputy Governor Prijanto said Friday.

He said public transportation entrepreneurs often tried to cheat the system by temporarily replacing their defective auto parts "only to pass the test".

"Public transportation owners often replace their faulty auto parts that are being subjected to the test with others that are still in good shape," he said at City Hall.

"But they will soon return their faulty parts after they pass the test and receive their certificates. That's why we can still see thick, black smoke fuming from public transportation," he said.

Prijanto's comments came in the wake a recent finding by the Roadworthiness Test Center in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta. The center is privately run but appointed by the city administration to conduct the test.

On Thursday, the center revealed that only 73,811 public transportation vehicles out of the 88,000 traveling in the city have passed the test recently.

The head of the center, Lukman Iskandar, said the center's records showed there were 6,012 vehicles that had not undergone the test.

Among the 6,012 vehicles, city-owned PPD buses accounted for 1,982 and Steady Safe made up 608, Lukman said, as quoted by Beritajakarta.com.

Critics have said the test has been corrupted by officials collecting illegal fees, while public transportation owners engage in bribery.

According to a 1999 ordinance on city fees and taxes, public transportation owners have to pay Rp 78,500 (US$8.54) for the mandatory test, which must be taken every six months.

The test comprises of eight aspects, including tire shape and pressure, lamps, the condition of the brakes, engine, windows and windshield and emission quality.

Prijanto said he had called on the city transportation agency to be stricter in enforcing the law.

"I have asked them to be tough on this matter. Vehicles found defective must be garaged," he said.

Riza Hashim, the head of the traffic and public transportation management department at the agency, said staff shortages had been the cause of poor enforcement.

"There are only 616 agency officials. And they are deployed to manage the busway system and illegal parking," Riza said.

"None of them have focused on the roadworthiness test for public transportation," he said.

Riza said the agency's officials still enforced the bylaw by seizing public vehicles found traveling around the city without their certificates.

Meanwhile, the secretary of Commission B on Economic Affairs at the City Council, Nurmansjah Lubis, said he was concerned about the agency's inability to enforce the bylaw.

"It's ironic if the agency has no strong commitment to enforce the law," he said.

"It's so obvious that public vehicles continue to emit black fumes," he said. "The agency should have revoked their operating licenses for failing the test."

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