Metromini opposes new competitor

Thu, 02/28/2008 11:29 AM, The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: Dozens of Metromini bus drivers held a strike Wednesday against a new competitor operating from Blok M terminal, South Jakarta.

The drivers parking their orange minibuses outside the Jakarta Transportation Agency offices on Jl. Taman Jati Baru I, Central Jakarta. They demanded the administration stop a Patas bus service which runs run from Blok M to Kampung Rambutan terminal in East Jakarta and Blok M to Pondok Labu bus terminal in South Jakarta.

In three weeks since the new service became available Metromini operators saw their income plunged by 80 percent, they said.

"It's unfair," a driver, Marbun said, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

Having failed to meet any agency officials to deliver their protest, drivers left the venue at around 1:30 p.m.

The drivers said they would return March 1 in another strike