South Sulawesi Provincial Government Letters To The Ministry Of Transportation 'Hands Up' Unable To Finance Trans Mamminasata Buses

Illustration. Portrait of Trans Mamminasata Bus Friends in South Sulawesi. BETWEEN A/Nur Suhra Wardyah

The South Sulawesi Provincial Government sent a letter to the Ministry of Transportation regarding the regional government's inability to finance the operations of Trans Mamminasata Bus Friends.

Head of the South Sulawesi Transportation Agency, Andi Erwin Terwo, explained that the South Sulawesi Provincial Government wrote to the Minister of Transportation, to be precise the Director General of Land Transportation via letter Number: 024/16047/DISHUB dated December 21, 2023, regarding the Sustainability of Trans Mamminasata Urban Public Transportation Services.

As for the points of submission in the letter, in the 2024 Fiscal Year, the South Sulawesi Provincial Government does not yet have budget readiness to take over the management of Trans Mamminasata Bus Friends services.

"Therefore, a letter from the Director General will be answered by submitting the inability of the Provincial Government and please continue until 2025," said Andi Erwin as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, January 5.

The 2024 South Sulawesi Provincial Budget has been set on November 6, 2023, which does not yet contain the budget allocation for urban public transportation subsidies.

After being studied on a business basis, Trans Mamminasata Bus Friends were not profitable with a subsidy of Rp. 80 billion, while the revenue was only Rp. 3.6 billion.

"If it is suitable to be managed by the Central Government, let the center manage it," he said.

In the aftermath, the South Sulawesi Provincial Government must stop the operations of two corridors, namely Corridor 3 and 4 Trans Mamminasata Bus Friends. In this regard, the South Sulawesi Provincial Government has written to the Ministry of Transportation, precisely addressed to the Director General of Land Transportation.

Corridor 3 and 4 Trans Mamminasata Bus Friends were stopped due to the limited budget of the central government in 2024. Thus, efficiency needs to be carried out in the implementation of Buy The Service services for 10 subsidized recipient cities, including Makassar City.

Andi Erwin explained, when the information on the termination of the Trans Mamminasata Bus Operations for Corridor 3 and 4 was received, the 2024 APBD had been hit by a hammer on November 6, 2023, and there were no land transportation subsidies.

The South Sulawesi Provincial Government will re-examine the current Trans Mamminasata corridor and budgeting for mass transportation subsidies will be accommodated in the 2025-2029 RPJMD in the LLAJ Implementation Program for Urban Area Determination Activities for Urban Transportation Services that exceed the limit of one district/city area in one provincial area.

In the letter, it was also stated that the priority programs for the Acting Governor of South Sulawesi in 2024 included the implementation of elections/Pilkada, Extremal Poverty Reduction, Stunting Reduction and other urgent priorities.

The provincial government has requested that the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Land Transportation continue to allocate a budget in the 2024 State Budget according to the target in the 2020-2024 RPJMN, where Makassar is one of six Metropolitan cities in the Major Project for the Development of the Urban Mass General Transportation System.

For information, the Director General of Land Transportation via letter Number: AJ. 005/3/8/DJPD/2023, December 19, 2023, concerning the Takeover of the BTS Trans Mamminasata Service Corridor for Fiscal Year 2023 said that the Ministry of Transportation only allocates the budget for BTS urban transportation subsidies in 2 corridors, namely Corridor 1 and 2. It is hoped that the local government can prepare replacement services and continue to carry out push and pull strategy.