JAKARTA – A recent suggestion by Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung that political parties in Indonesia might buy the naming rights for transit hubs has raised concerns over the risk of politicising public facilities in the capital.
During an event in West Jakarta earlier in April, Mr Pramono said that his administration was looking for new initiatives to raise revenue after the central government slashed its regional transfer to the capital by 15 trillion rupiah (S$1 billion) in 2026.
Among the initiatives proposed by the governor was to sell the naming rights of transit hubs to businesses and political parties.
“There are bus stops named (using beverage brands such as) Nescafe or Teh Sosro, all sorts of things, anyone can (claim it) as long as they pay for it. Even if the Golkar Party wants to build a bus stop, they actually can, Pak Erwin,” Mr Pramono said, as quoted from local media outlet Kompas.
He was referring to Golkar politician Erwin Aksa, who was also present at the event.
Auctioning the naming rights of transit hubs in Jakarta has been a common practice since 2018, when state-owned railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia rebranded Sudirman Baru Station in Central Jakarta as BNI City, in reference to state-run lender BNI.
Since then, public transportation operators in Jakarta have been looking to generate more revenue from non-ticket sales by selling bus stop or station names to businesses.
Operators keep the original names of the stations, which are based on their locations, while attaching the brand names at the end.
The MRT network, for instance, has sold nine of the names of its 13 stations along its 15.7km route to numerous businesses, including Blok M Station to private lender Bank Central Asia (BCA) and the Cipete Raya Station to local coffee chain Tuku.
But Mr Pramono, a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is the first to propose selling station and bus stop names to political parties.
He later clarified his proposal, saying that the city would prioritise selling transit hub names to businesses, rather than political parties.
The plan, however, has already been met with criticism, with many warning that it could provide new avenues for political entities to engage in shadow campaigning.
Public transportation hubs such as stations and bus stops should remain neutral zones free from political campaigns, according to Mr Dody Wijaya of the Jakarta General Elections Commission.
Mr Dody warned that selling naming rights for transit hubs to political parties would violate the existing regulations that strictly prohibit the display of any political party symbols and campaigns on public infrastructure.
Having political parties display their names on public infrastructure, he said, would create a sense of bias among the public, as political parties might eventually compete to secure stations or bus stops.
He urged the city administration not to prioritise pursuing regional revenue at the expense of “neutrality” within the public domain. “If this policy proceeds, it must be governed by strict, transparent and accountable regulations to prevent any perceived bias and inequality in the public space,” he said.
However, NasDem Party politician Nova Harivan Paloh, who chairs the finance commission at the Jakarta City Council, supported Mr Pramono’s proposal.
Mr Nova said that opening auctions to more participants, including political parties, would significantly boost city revenue due to the high cost of rebranding transit hub names.
“It is acceptable as long as it follows the rules and does not compromise the urban aesthetic,” he said last week, as quoted from Kompas.com.
City Hall is reportedly preparing a regulation that will detail the auctioning of the names of public facilities, as part of Jakarta’s push to boost its revenue through creative financing. THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK