Are Jakarta’s Penny Police a Necessary Evil?

Are Jakarta’s Penny Police a Necessary Evil?

By Kennial Caroline Laia on 2:38 pm January 11, 2014.
Penny police have carved out a niche for themselves, but are their actions an inconvenience for the many or a convenience for the few? At one of the busy intersections in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, a man wearing a pair of jeans, shirt and a hat to cover his head from the sun, was busy managing traffic.The noisy sounds from the whistle in his mouth were in rhyme with the gestures from his hands, which guided cars and motorcycles that wanted to make a U-turn.

Like a professional, Fauzi without hesitation stopped vehicles whenever a car or motorcycle wanted to make a turn.

The act seems helpful, yet at the same time forces more than 20 drivers to hold their brakes, in order to avoid a collision among vehicles queueing at the intersection, waiting for the regulator to do his “duty.”

After two hours, Fauzi took off his green vest. He told Jakarta Globe recently that he’s been doing the job since he was 17 years old. He’s now in his 40s.

“Well, markir [directing vehicles] is a pretty good way to make money, better than daydreaming and doing nothing. I might as well help organize vehicles’ U-turn,” he said.

The man, who is also a motorcycle taxi driver, told the Globe that sometimes managing traffic was more profitable than carrying passengers on his motorcycle.

During peak hours Fauzi could earn up to Rp 60,000 ($4.90). He usually works with a partner, Helmi, but his partner was unable to work when the Globe visited.

When the Globe reminded Fauzi that his work could endanger his life and affect his health, Fauzi replied, “I know a friend who had a fatal accident while doing his job. He got hit by a motorcycle. I have sharp eyes, so I won’t get hit,” he said confidently.

“I am also a healthy man, so why would I wear a mask? It’s embarrassing,” he said.

When asked whether he has ever been arrested by police and accused of disrupting traffic and endangering safety, he replied, “I’ve never experienced such a thing. The police in this area know that I’m ‘working’ here. Some of them have even asked for my help to manage traffic. What can I say? I get money so I just do it,” Fauzi said.

Fauzi added that back in the old days he would have to bribe police officers with one or two packs of cigarettes so that they would leave him alone.

“The police never asked for money. They only asked for cigarettes,” he said, adding that the last time he bought cigarettes for police was in 2003.

Zaki, 25, who also worked at an intersection two kilometers away from Fauzi’s echoed the same statement. Zaki said his friends, whom he called his seniors in managing the traffic, told him that they used to pay the police Rp 6,000 each several times a week.

Zaki admitted that he didn’t really enjoy his work, but that he had to do it for the money.

“I lost my job last year. I have nothing else to do, so I joined my friends to do this job. In a way, it’s a good way to make easy money,” he said, adding that in three hours he could generate between Rp 30,000 and Rp 50,000.

“If I get another job, I’ll quit this. But for now, all I can do is to become pak ogah ,” Zaki said, referring to terms given by Indonesians on people who help manage traffic in return for small change.

Pak ogah, or polisi cepek (penny police), as the locals call them, can make between Rp 100,000 and Rp 200,000 per day.

The profession poses an interesting dilemma: In one way, they help people pass the U-turn, but on the other hand, they cause traffic discomfort and endanger their own lives and health because of the capital’s heavy pollution.

Still, since many people see this activity as financially beneficial, they just ignore the thick pollution, unpleasant weather condition or traffic noise.

In July last year, Kompas.com reported that the Institute for Transportation Study (IST) found that at least 500 intersections were controlled by two to three pak ogah, with each of them earning up to Rp 150,000 every three hours, or up to Rp 4.5 million per month.

IST estimated the money that flowed within pak ogah’s circle reached Rp 6.75 million per month. IST admitted, though, that the amount wasn’t reliable because the survey didn’t cover every intersection in Jakarta.

Unemployment as driving factor

Otto Hernowohadi, an urban sociologist attributed the pak ogah phenomenon to the capital’s chronic traffic jams.

“Smooth traffic is rare in Jakarta. It’s so rare that many people compete to provide it. They are unofficial regulators that facilitate road users and at the same time make financial gains from it,” he said, adding that the money they earned from such activity were normally used to purchase secondary needs such as cigarettes and coffee.

He stressed that the way pak ogah manages the traffic is far from proper traffic regulations.

“The impact is only useful for certain vehicles, for example, those that want to turn or break into the flow of traffic but creates problems for many vehicles,” he said.

Otto stated that although the work seemed useful for road users, it could not be legalized.

“If it’s legalized, more people will violate road signs. The existence of pak ogah itself is breaking the law. The law is made to be complied with,” he said.

Otto said that the government should take this matter into concern.

“The unprofessional and unlawful road managers are not something you are looking for in terms of safety and convenience on the road,” he said.

A public policy expert from University of Indonesia, Andrinof A Chaniago, told the Globe that pak ogah has appeared in many big cities like Jakarta since 1997, growing in number when the financial crisis hit in 1998.

Andrinof said that many unemployed people saw this “job” as an opportunity to make money to support their lives.

“The lack of job opportunities in Jakarta was a likely factor to force people to take on such work,” he said.

“Secondly, the government and officials have let these things happen,” he said. “If the government wanted to, it could turn pak ogah into a ‘real’ profession for those who have done it for years. The officials can enlist and train them and give them proper equipment. If they feel appreciated, they wouldn’t do any harm to road users in the city.

“The government should discipline these road ‘managers’ in order to create an orderly traffic flow, but not evict them,” he added.

Andrinof also pointed out street criminals who act like pak ogah. Instead of helping people, they only disrupt the flow of traffic.

“Some of them are just pretending to manage the traffic, but they are actually just hoping that people would give them money. If people refuse to pay, they would get in the way and not allow the cars to pass,” he said.

Illegal maneuvers

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto attributed the presence of pak ogah to two main factors, namely behavior of road users and limited official resources.

“With U-turns, people tend to seek instant and quicker ways and don’t care about other road users. Pak ogah helps them out of the ‘difficult’ situation. However, there are also those who created such a situation to get money from road users. They annoy the road users,” he said.

“Initially, pak ogah only helped the road users, but with money involved, people start to think that it was an informal profession,” he said.

“Secondly, it’s due to the limited number of police officers on the road. It’s impossible to place officers at every U-turn in Jakarta.

“For those who do the job well, as well as their attitude, we appreciate them by giving them certificates, whistles and yellow spotlighted vests. We know about them based on information from citizens,” Rikwanto said, explaining that pak ogah could not be legalized as a real profession because it could be misused by lazy people.

“I think it’s fair enough that we appreciate their efforts,” Rikwanto said.

Asked about police officers who received bribes from pak ogah, Rikwanto denied that it has happened.

“That’s an old song. It’s gossip made up by people who want to hurt the police’s integrity,” he said.

Rikwanto warned that even though there was no law that stipulates the existence of illegal road managers, the police would arrest anyone who tried to disrupt the public on the road.

“If they caused traffic jams and endangered the safety of road users by intimidation, the police will take action by arresting them and warning them not to repeat such behavior,” he said.

Last month Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said that the Jakarta administration will “clean” the roads in the capital of pak ogah.

The administration has offered those who are willing to leave the job the opportunity to work as official parking attendants.

But most of them have refused the offer because they consider a pak ogah bringing in more money than a parking attendant would.

Basuki has said that he would detain violators and punish them.