Arientha Primanita & Zaky Pawas, Jakarta – Jasuta stopped his empty Mikrolet minivan in front of the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta on Thursday, blocking traffic while he waited for paying customers.
When a policeman approached he drove away, only to return a short time later. For Jasuta, a strategic place like the market is ideal. "This is how I get passengers. If I just keep driving I would not get enough passengers," he said sitting in his rickety van.
As he sees it, this is just a way to eke out the Rp 150,000 ($17) a day he makes driving the van he bought a year ago for Rp 40 million.
Multiply the disruption his van causes by the tens of thousands of other minivans and vehicles that go about their business oblivious to traffic rules, and you can see why Jakarta's traffic jams are out of control.
"If there are police, we can be fined," Jasuta said. But he added that a Rp 20,000 bribe could usually make the problem go away.
For Jakarta residents, the minivans are a plague. Arie, 28, a resident of Jalan Palmerah, Central Jakarta, said that every day she had to put up with minivans that refused to budge when they were waiting for passengers. "It is crazy. In the Slipi intersection, the vans even park in the middle of the road," she said.
According to Sidiq, who plies a Mikrolet around East Jakarta, the drivers in some areas have to pay Rp 10,000 a day to local police, who then turn a blind eye to traffic violations committed when picking up passengers.
"I know that stopping on the side of the road causes traffic to run slow. But what can I do? It's the only way I can get passengers," Sidiq said. "I need to earn enough to pay the uang setoran [minimum payment due the owner of the vehicle] of Rp 305,000 per day."
Other drivers talk of similar problems. Karnaedi, who had stopped his minivan in the Slipi intersection, said: "I try not to stop for too long." He gets pushed along by other minivans eager to take his place in the traffic-clogged lane.
City officials know about the problem but seem powerless to stop it. Arifin Hamonangan, the head of the control and operations division at the city's transportation office, said: "Our officials monitor these areas and coordinate with the police. We ask the buses to drive away. But when there is no official, they come right back."
Controlling these public vans is one way the Jakarta administration is trying to ease the massive traffic jams in the capital. Arifin said about 350 vehicles were fined per week, but any commuter knows that's just a drop in the bucket.
Sr. Comr. Royke Lumua, director of the Jakarta Police Traffic Directorate, said police would conduct a special operation on Monday to curb cowboy drivers of public and private vehicles. The police plan to issue fines and create awareness of the need to follow the rules.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said rogue officers caught soliciting or receiving bribes from drivers could also be charged. It is unlikely to change what has become a way of life for the drivers, however.
Tri Tjahjono, of the Indonesian Transportation Society in Jakarta, said the entire system was a mess, from the lack of regular salaries for drivers who are paid according to the number of passengers they haul, to the poor condition of vehicles and the city's inability to enforce regulations.
Tri said the city needed to provide bus terminals, bus stops and better law enforcement if it wanted to make a dent in the problem. "The people and the drivers must also be educated to use bus stops," he said.
On any typical traffic-jam day in Jakarta, however, that thought seems like a faraway dream.