Comptrollers: Where to?

By Muna Awwad Star staff writer In the new suggested traffic law of 2007, a clause approves the prohibition of an occupation called "bus comptroller" or "bus fare collector" on the bus. This same restriction was first announced five years earlier in 2003 by the Public Transportation Regulatory Commission (PTRC) but was never implemented.The comptroller duty was supposed to help the bus driver, assist in the collection of fares, arrange seating of passengers where necessary, assist in any dispute which occurs on the bus; however he himself is often regarded as the cause of trouble in most disputes that occur on the buses.Ikhlas Yusef, spokesperson of PTRC, said, "Using a comptroller inside the bus is an illegal act and a bad phenomenon which decreases the citizens' willingness to use the public transportation. This is due to the low level of culture and ethics in those young men working as comptrollers; most of them have spent time in jail, do not act appropriately with the passengers and are always bothering the girls who get on the buses. "This is not an occupation anyway; this job is only for school dropouts or young criminals adding to that the possibility of children exploitation which this job gives by attracting young boys to work as a bus comptroller," she added.Yusef recounted how citizens have often complained to the PTRC regarding this issue. "We received many complaints by citizens against the comptrollers; some stories are very dangerous especially for girls. In order for us to maintain security for the passengers we have taken this decision long ago but couldn't apply it because it was not yet adopted by the Traffic Department. Now with the new Traffic Draft Law which strikes off this job category altogether and imposes a fine of JD50 on any bus that employs a comptroller, we are finally looking forward to apply our 5-year plan of developing the transportation sector."The 5-year plan envisages a modernization of the transport sector to match the country's other growth factors. Yusef explained, "As many of the buses operating on various routes are already aged, and pose risks to the overall road users, the PTRC will not renew the licenses of such vehicles when it is time to. Instead, special arrangements will be applied to allow the replacement of the old vehicles with new ones which will also have special fare-collection system, including prepaid smart cards which reduce the hassle of finding small change for the fare."On the other hand, some observers believe that this law, if approved, will be very unjust and will lead to a rise in unemployment and affect the lives of many families living on the salaries of bus comptrollers. Imad Shaheen, a writer and media analyst, commented, "Decommissioning this broad segment of workers will not adjust their behavior or rectify their personalities; on the contrary it will make the problem worse because work for those youngsters is considered a psychiatric treatment, exploitation of creative energy in society, absorption of rising unemployment and preventing those young men from deviation or wrong doing." He added, "Official statistics estimate the number of citizens employed in this profession at about 3,000 young men, and such a law would mean throwing them on the streets, and perhaps facilitating their slide down the road to social dysfunction, including their families who depend on them for subsistence."Yusef, however, pointed out that this law will not be applied suddenly. "We have addressed these comptrollers through media for a long time and are still giving them a chance now with the 5-year development plan. They have the opportunity to search for a better job, especially that we in PTRC are cooperating with many private companies which will have new programs in Jordan and will need many employees as ticket sellers. They can also attend training centers and find many alternative choices for their lives. Not responding to such chances is their problem; they haven't responded during the past five years and therefore they have placed themselves in such a tricky situation whereby a new traffic law could apply the restrictions, and not the PTRC."Bus driver, Mansour Ghnaimat, commented on the issue saying, "The comptroller is very important and sometimes even more important than the driver. They keep security inside the bus and stay at the service of the passengers. We cannot generalize one situation or an act of one comptroller on all others. They are not all alike."Muhammad Ahmad, another bus driver, added, "A comptroller is very necessary, he does everything; I cannot work without a comptroller and will face many difficulties with those boxes they are planning to replace the comptroller with; how will people manage the coins problem? I think if they want to avoid having comptrollers with bad attitudes, they should put conditions on hiring them, like asking them for certificate of good conduct before hiring them and this will solve the problem instead of depriving families of their incomes just because of a few wrongdoers." Hani Hasan, 19-year old comptroller, said, "It is not true that comptroller are uncultivated persons or treat citizens impolitely; this happens everywhere not only inside a bus, and should be considered as individual cases not to be stereotyped to a whole occupation. I have seven brothers and sisters and I'm therefore forced to work and help them in order for them to finish their studies."Another comptroller, Wael Ahmad, also said, "There is no other alternative for my job and I have now two families depending on me, my father doesn't work and I am the only son who can take care of the family financially. I have tried to find another job but failed, even the training centers prefer to accept only certain people and look to us in the same way, considering that we are not suitable for courses."According to most commuting girls, a comptroller is somehow needed. Nidaa Shamayleh, a university student who uses the bus daily, said, "I think we are in need of a comptroller inside the bus because it is hard for a girl to deal directly with the bus driver when she wants to pay; the comptroller takes the bus fare from us easily, and also we sometimes want the bus to stop at a certain point and find it hard to tell the driver so the comptroller helps the passengers to go down exactly where they want."Ruba Saleh, a teacher and commuter, stated, "I have been using public buses for many years and have never faced a situation where a comptroller bothered me as a girl. I suggest they stay but be subject to some kind of restrictions because we girls find it more comfortable in the presence of a comptroller to help if any need arises; if a comptroller behaves badly, I think the driver will interfere to put an end to any mischief."Asmaa, an office employee, thinks that the human element is necessary in the transportation process. "If the smart card system is implemented, I think it will cost more, and new charges will be added. We will maybe need to recharge the cards after a very short distance so that will make an extra load on citizens. I also see that a comptroller is more likely to become a better person and work diligently if he is offered a decent source of income for a hard day's work." A*Comptrollers: Where to?

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