Saber Team Data: Parking Extortion Is The Most Common Finding In Semarang

Semarang City Transportation Service officers installed a traffic cone in line with the implementation of the road side parking sterilization policy in the Simpang Lima Semarang/ANTARA/Zuhdiar Laeis area.

SEMARANG - Semarang City's Illegal Extortion Sweeping Team (Saber Pungli) said that the highest number of extortion cases in the Capital City of Central Java Province in 2022 came from the parking sector.

Chief Executive 1 of the Semarang City Saber Extortion Team AKBP Yuswanto Ardi in Semarang, Monday, said that parking extortion reached eight case reports out of a total of 13 reports received.

The remaining five cases varied, such as extortion for obtaining certificates, obtaining building permits (IMB), construction of community halls, school donations, and entry tickets to Marina Beach.

"We strongly urge the public not to hesitate to report extortion through existing channels such as the WhatsApp channel," said Ardi who is also Deputy Chief of Semarang Police.

After submitting the performance report of the 2022 Semarang City Extortion Task Force at the Semarang City Hall, Ardi revealed that there were several reports that were not proven to be extortion after follow-up, including, obtaining certificates in line with the Complete Systematic Land Registration (PTSL) program.

It was revealed that the levy had been agreed upon by the residents so it was not proven to be extortion.

There are also reports that cannot be forwarded because the reporter cannot be contacted, such as extortion from school donations. As for reports of parking extortion, it has been proven and has been acted upon.

He explained, the Semarang City Saber Pungli Team had tried to socialize with the public and agencies that perform public services to minimize extortion, as well as increase the role of the community in reporting if they find extortion.

Meanwhile, the Regional Secretary of the City of Semarang Iswar Aminuddin said that parking was still the dominant problem related to extortion so that his party would immediately evaluate it.

According to him, the potential for parking and revenue targets is not balanced, as evidenced by the local revenue (PAD) from the parking sector which is still considered low, even though the potential is great.

Iswar said that the potential for parking in Semarang City can be calculated from the number of wheeled vehicles, namely 1.8 million units, while there are 200,000 four-wheeled vehicles.

The Semarang City Government will also maximize electronic parking to anticipate extortion and increase PAD.

"So, when talking about the potential of two million vehicles, how many people can park once, this is still very far between the target and realization," he concluded.