TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Member of The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) Tulus Abad, said the services of Metro Mini will never change.

According to him, the dismal services of Metro Mini would persist as long as there are no legal entities that supervise and monitor their operation.

"If there are no legal entities, we can’t expect much from those Metro Mini buses," he said yesterday.

As previously reported, a Metro Mini bus slammed six motorcycles on Jl. Warung Buncit, Mampang, South Jakarta yesterday. Six people were injured in the accident and had to be taken to the hospital.

The bus driver was allegedly drunk and the bus was reportedly in a good condition.

Tulus said the requirement to have a legal entity has actually been stated in a regional regulation on transportation. However, the legal entity that monitors and supervises Metro Mini are unclear.

He also said that things are exacerbated by the lenient stand of the Jakarta provincial government who let Metro Mini buses in operation despite no legal entities.

Tulus added that private ownership of the buses has also made the control mechanism even more difficult because legal entities on transportation are made so that there is a supervision mechanism in the managerial and operational aspects. Moreover, Metro Mini buses are actually obliged to have their own bus pools.

"As a result, no one supervises whether a bus driver is drunk or whether the bus is roadworthy because they depart from private homes," he said.

The Jakarta provincial government has to make sure there is clarity when it comes to legal entities for Metro Mini. The goal is so that Metro Mini buses can give better services for the people, said the YLKI member.

DIMAS SIREGAR