Jakarta – Commuter train operator PT Kereta Api Commuter Indonesia (KCI) president director Muhamamd Nurul Fadhila has said the government subsidy allocated to KCI's public service obligation (PSO) only covers 56 percent of the company's passenger number target in 2018.
The government has allocated Rp 1.29 trillion (US$96.23 million) to PT KCI's PSO, while the total allocation for state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the parent company of KCI, is Rp 2.4 trillion, he said.
"The fund is only enough for 295 million passengers. Our target is to increase the number of passengers to 320 million," said Fadhila when speaking at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.
He said the commuter trains transported 315 million passengers last year, up from 292 million in 2016.
But Fadhila could not mention by how much the fund was short, saying his company had to calculate the number of passengers in every three months. He said the calculation of PSO in every three months was stated in a contract signed by the company and the Transportation Ministry.
Last year, PT KCI got a PSO allocation of Rp 1.26 trillion, said Fadhila, adding that the entire fund had been spent on providing a subsidy for 315 million passengers. (bbn)