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Jakarta Acts to Clear Streets of Gas-Powered Bajaj
Hotman Siregar | January 19, 2012

Jakarta Transportation Agency officers checking a gasoline-powered bajaj on Monday to verify it is operating legally. The city administration is trying to remove 2,755 of the vehicles from the street and encourage the owners to update to a newer, cleaner model.  JG Photo/Safir Makki Jakarta Transportation Agency officers checking a gasoline-powered bajaj on Monday to verify it is operating legally. The city administration is trying to remove 2,755 of the vehicles from the street and encourage the owners to update to a newer, cleaner model.  JG Photo/Safir Makki
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BilboBaggins
9:33pm Jan 19, 2012

Jakarta’s tax office, he said, had unilaterally classified all natural gas-powered vehicles as “luxury goods,” subjecting them to a 45 percent tax."

Welcome to Disneysia.

It just boggles the mind the total incompetence and lack of any co-ordinated strategy in any area of the government.

Kesiangan
8:36pm Jan 19, 2012

The better you wank, the higher the revenue.

shytallnight
7:09pm Jan 19, 2012

Couldn't agree more with you both. It's always a pleasure to call an 'official' a wanker.

blightyboy
2:03pm Jan 19, 2012

As mentioned by SirAnthony, where is the sanity in this ludicrous tax? It really does confirm yet again that Indonesia is run by a bunch of wankers.

SirAnthonyKnown-Bender
12:52pm Jan 19, 2012

Why are clean vehicles aimed at improving the city's public transportation system subject to a luxury tax? This country really is run by people who seemingly care nothing for its future.

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The Jakarta Transportation Council threw its support on Wednesday behind the city’s crackdown on gasoline-powered bajaj operating illegally across the capital.

Old gasoline-powered bajaj, motorized rickshaws, spew out harmful pollutants and the city has been trying to rid the street of them to help clean up the air.

Officials want to replace the older bajaj with newer models that run on natural gas and emit much less carbon dioxide.

While the gasoline-powered bajaj are still allowed to operate, the government has refused to extend their permits, forcing owners to convert to the newer version. Many owners, however, are simply continuing to operate the old bajaj without a permit.

“We support the crackdown on unlicensed non-natural gas-powered bajajs,” said Azas Tigor Nainggolan, chairman of the transportation council. “We need to step up the crackdown to maintain Jakarta’s consistency in enforcing existing regulations.”

On Tuesday, officials from Jakarta’s transportation agency impounded 34 bajaj.

Agency chief Udar Pristono said the city was contacting the vehicles’ owners to give them the opportunity to produce the required documents.

“We will wait for clarification because the drivers were only able to show us photocopies [of the licenses],” he said.

Unlicensed bajaj, he said, would be destroyed.

Pristono said that officially there were 14,424 bajaj registered with the city, 2,755 of which were gas-powered.

“But in reality there are many with fake licenses and fake registration numbers,” he said. “We suspect that there are 30,000 bajaj in Jakarta.”

Pristono said the process of phasing out the older vehicles had been slow because the new natural gas-powered version cost twice as much as the older version. The newer vehicles cost about Rp 25 million ($2,775) each.

Jakarta’s tax office, he said, had unilaterally classified all natural gas-powered vehicles as “luxury goods,” subjecting them to a 45 percent tax.

“Two years ago we wrote [the tax office] a letter asking that the tax rate be lowered,” Pristono said. “Hopefully it can go down to as low as 25 percent.”

Additional reporting by Suara Pembaruan and Dofa Fasila