Owners overlook vehicle roadworthiness test

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/06/2008 10:29 AM  

A middle-aged man holding a green A4 envelope in his hand was about to enter one of the city's vehicle testing centers when four men ran up to him and started talking at him. 

"Sir, want to have a KIR (vehicle roadworthiness test), sir?" they kept asking, until the man finally handed his envelope to one of them. 

This scene is quite a common one at any of Jakarta's five vehicle testing centers, located in Ujung Menteng and Cakung, East Jakarta, as many people prefer to pay a middleman for their vehicle roadworthiness test. 

The test, aimed to measure the roadworthiness of public vehicles, is based on eight indicators, including the condition of the tires, lamps, brakes, engine and windows and level of exhaust emissions. 

"Many drivers or vehicle owners are not able to do all tests. That's why they need us," a middleman at the Cakung testing center told The Jakarta Post last week. 

The man, eating lunch with two friends, said there were dozens of scalpers or middlemen, known locally as calo, operating around the building everyday. He said they could be recognized as they stood out among the blue-uniformed officers. 

Rosmayani, owner of three public minivans, agreed help from a middleman was useful for her and other vehicle owners. 

"I paid a middleman Rp 240,000 (US$24) to help me because my documents were incomplete," said Rosmayani, who brought one of her minivans to the center. 

According to the 1999 city bylaw on fees and taxes, an owner of a small vehicle such as a taxi or public minivan has to pay about Rp 100,000 for the test and administrative fees. Owners of larger vehicles, such as the air-conditioned buses Mayasari Bakti or Steady Safe, are charged about Rp 200,000 each. 

All public vehicles must undergo the test every six months, but thousands of old and dilapidated public vehicles are still in operation and are seen frequently across the city. 

At the Pulo Gadung testing center, a Kopaja minibus driver who was waiting for his roadworthiness certificate said he had spent more than Rp 1 million to pay a middleman to have his old bus pass the test. 

"Well, I just need to wait here because the middleman is taking care of everything," he said. He explained that the middleman would share the money with the officers responsible for all the test procedures. 

About 10 minutes later he drove his old bus out of the center, black smoke spewing from its exhaust pipe. 

Another bus driver was in one corner of the center's parking lot busily swapping the tires on his bus with new ones. 

"It has become common practice. Everyone is busy fixing up their vehicle temporarily before taking the test," said Ilyas, a bus driver who has been visiting the testing center regularly since 1979. He said the officers and middlemen were friends. 

"Just pay first, then you can nap while they get your roadworthiness certificate ready," he said, watching an officer in a blue uniform having lunch with a middleman nearby. 

Data from the city's traffic police for 2003-2007 show that Kopaja vehicles were involved in 379 accidents in that period, while Metromini minibuses were involved in 730 accidents. Another 624 accidents involved public minivans. 

Recently, the Pulo Gadung testing center released data stating that 6,609 public buses are in operation despite having not renewed their roadworthiness certificates. 

But according to the head of the Jakarta chapter of the Land Transportation Owners organization (Organda), Herry Rotty, many buses are not in operation because of the fuel price rise. 

"The number of buses (on the road) has fallen to 70 percent," he said Thursday. 

Early this year, the organization claimed there were about 60,000 public transportation vehicles in Jakarta, including 4,200 large buses, 4,800 minibuses, 13,000 minivans, 23,300 taxis and 15,000 bajaj (three-wheeled vehicles). 

One of the middlemen at the Pulo Gadung testing center agreed that fewer vehicles had been coming in for the roadworthiness test since the fuel price rise in the middle of the year. 

Nevertheless, the "unseen" practice continues. 

On another corner, a Metromini minibus driver received stamped documents and payment receipts from an officer who then put a pair of small metal plates on the bus's body, as proof it had been checked by the authority. 

After handing Rp 5,000 to the officer, the driver told his three assistants to start pushing the bus. It turned out that this bus, which had just passed its test, had a flat battery and could not be started. (hwa)

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