PCO: Government Quick Response To Ojol's Aspirations Ahead Of May 20 Demo

UNSPLASH/Jason Miraples ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Head of the Presidential Communication Office (PCO) Hasan Nasbi expressed that the aspirations voiced by online motorcycle taxi drivers (ojol) had been responded to quickly by the government.

Hasan said that today the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) had held a dialogue with ojol representatives to overcome a number of problems they faced.

"Today it seems that it has just finished (dialogue, ed). Just finished, they also held a media briefing with media friends. So, from the Ministry of Transportation, the response is fast," he said in response to the demonstration by ojol drivers which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday (20/5) tomorrow.

He said the government, especially the Ministry of Transportation, had taken proactive steps by opening a dialogue room to accommodate complaints and all aspirations from the ojol community.

"The Ministry of Transportation has conducted media briefings and dialogues with ojol representatives. They are open to discussing aspirations related to regulation and welfare," he said.

Hasan emphasized that the government respects the right of citizens to express opinions, but still urges actions to be carried out in an orderly manner and not to interfere with the public interest.

"Expression of opinion is a constitutional right. But we urge people's needs to be considered," he said.

According to Hasan, the relevant ministries and institutions will seriously process all input from ojol drivers to find the best solution that benefits all parties.

Kita ingin mencari jalan tengah yang adil. Bisnis tetap jalan, masyarakat tetap terlayani, dan kesejahteraan pengendara juga meningkat, katanya.

The ojol drivers plan to hold a massive demonstration on Tuesday (20/5) starting at 13.00 WIB. This action was triggered by a number of demands that had not received adequate responses from the government and application companies.

A number of aspirations were voiced, including transparency and justice for the results. The driver demands clarity and justice in the distribution system between them and the application company.

Next, they asked for an adjustment of the basic tariff which was deemed incomparable to operational costs and necessities of life.

Ojol drivers also hope for social protection, including health insurance and work accident insurance.

In addition, the ojol community also rejected the practice of unilaterally suspensioning accounts by application companies without a transparent process that asked to be involved in the policy-setting process regarding their work.

As a form of protest, ojol drivers plan to shut down the app for a full 24 hours, which is expected to have an impact on transportation and freight forwarding services in various cities.