Illegal Parking Attendants Charge High Prices at Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Harming Many People

(Surakarta, June 1, 2023) The Sheikh Zayed mosque is one of the pretty tourist destinations in the city of Solo, this is because the mosque has a magnificent architectural design typical of Araba. This certainly causes an increase in visitor interest to come here. The people who come are quite diverse, ranging from outside the region to the province. For the vehicles used also vary such as trains, cars, to tour buses.

Unfortunately, this is utilized by some irresponsible people such as illegal parking attendants who charge prices outside the provisions set by the Surakarta City Transportation Office. This is clearly troubling, especially for visitors and also the official parking attendants who have permission in the area.

Some visitors who come from out of town have been victimized by these illegal parking attendants. They did not know that they had been deceived by the price given to them.

“We were here by mini train, the parking lot was on the east side around the housing estate across the road, not in front of the mosque gate. It was 25 thousand there,” said one group of visitors who came from Klaten Regency. 

This illegal illegal parking attendants action is no longer surprising to local residents, this often happens when visitors are confused in finding parking access into the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, especially not all vehicles can enter inside because the road access is quite narrow. As a result, there are some people who direct to park outside the mosque area and sometimes say that the area inside the mosque is full, even though there is still empty land inside.

This was confirmed directly by the mosque security that this case was true. 

“Usually those who intercept in the area outside the mosque (illegal parking attendants) say that it is full here, even though it is still loose (there are still empty parking lots),” said Mr. Galih Eko as the security of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque.

Most of the vehicles that are targeted by illegal parking attendants are large cars that are considered difficult to enter, such as ELF (Travel Cars) and other large buses, the parking attendants take advantage of visitors’ unawareness, especially visitors who come from out of town to charge high prices.

To avoid this, visitors must know the official rates set for parking at the Sheikh Zayed mosque. 

The following is a list of official parking rates that have been set by the Surakarta City Government and the Surakarta City Transportation Agency;

Motorcycle : IDR 3000,-

Car: IDR 5000,-

ELF and BUS: IDR 15,000 – 20,000.

And for illegal parking is usually pegged above, and sometimes can reach around IDR 50.000,- for cars and large buses.

The existence of illegal parking also has an impact on local official parking attendants, who say that this is indeed considered detrimental because it can affect income, although not so significantly. Considering that this mosque is crowded and often visited by visitors every day, whether it’s to worship or enjoy the surrounding atmosphere. 

“In our opinion, this illegal parking is indeed troubling, especially for the official officers who own the land here, because if there is a problem about parking, it usually becomes the talk of visitors that parking here (Sheikh Zayed) is expensive, even though they are trapped by illegal parking attendants who are not official from here. Moreover, illegal parking is extortion, which violates the existing regulations, “said one of the official parking attendants at the mosque.

Golih Eko, Security of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, revealed that this illegal parking action often takes many victims, especially outside visitors and also urged residents to be more careful.

“From us, we strongly urge residents to be careful, usually those who have often come here must already know that parking in front of the mosque entrance gate, but if it is the first time, they are usually intercepted and directed to park illegally outside the mosque area, to distinguish between official officers it can be seen from the vest worn, if the official wears a blue vest and wears a KTA (Member Identity Card) while the illegal ones usually only wear green vests and are not official from the Transportation Department,” he said.

Visitors who were victims of these illegal parking attendants regretted the rampant actions of these illegal parking attendants, as well as making them more vigilant about this case. 

“Honestly, we just found out about this (illegal parking attendant), maybe in the future we will be more careful,” said a group of PKK women visitors from Klaten Regency.

So far officers are still controlling the existence of illegal parking scattered in the area of the solo city sheikh Zayed mosque, officers appeal to the public to be careful and not hesitate to refuse if caught in the action of illegal parking.

Writer : Naufal Ahmad Alfian (Communication Science ’22)

Reporter : Kania Permanasari (Accounting ’21), Salwa Aqilah Putri (Management ’22), Fadiyah Shofar Rosyidah (Communication Science ’20), Nada Utari Rusmanda (Dentistry ’21), Kenya Nurin Khasanah (Civil Enginering ’21)

Editor : Shafaa Azka Indradi (Psychology ’21)