Aceh's first airline suspended over possible mismanagement<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Seulawah Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Air, Aceh's first
\nairline which was launched by President Megawati Soekarnoputri in
\nSeptember last year, has ceased to operate, underpinning
\ncriticism that the airline was poorly managed.<\/p>\n
Seulawah NAD Air suspended its flights as of Friday last week,
\nseveral ticket sellers confirmed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
"We don't know when NAD will start flying again," a staffer at
\nPT Seulawah NAD Air ticket sales office, Muhammad R, was quoted
\nas saying by Antara.<\/p>\n
Several ticket sellers surveyed by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday
\nwere also in the dark about Seulawah NAD Air's future.<\/p>\n
"However, we have received information that the airline would
\noperate again once its management has been restructured," said
\nMuhammad.<\/p>\n
The airline's commissioner, Usman Budiman, could not be
\nreached for comment despite repeated calls to his office on
\nTuesday and Wednesday. The seven-month-old airline has no
\nspokesperson.<\/p>\n
Seuwalah NAD Air is one of several pet projects the local
\ngovernment had begun to develop in response to the greater
\nautonomy it has enjoyed since the regional autonomy laws took
\neffect in 2001.<\/p>\n
The airline project, however, gained little support from
\nlocals.<\/p>\n
Critics have expressed their disapproval of the Acehnese
\ngovernment for getting its priorities wrong, amid the widespread
\neconomic hardships resulting from over two decades of a
\nsecessionist war waged by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
Owned by the local government, the airline received Rp 6
\nbillion (US$674,000) from the provincial budget last year. It is
\nslated to receive another Rp 4 billion this year.<\/p>\n
"Seulawah Air was inaugurated by the president, so why is it
\nnot being managed seriously?" said Aceh Council deputy speaker,
\nBahrum Manyak.<\/p>\n
Coordinator of the Solidarity of the Anti-Corruption Society
\nKamal Farza said the local government should have simply asked
\nfor existing airlines to serve the Aceh route.<\/p>\n
The public officials who were appointed to run Seuwalah NAD
\nAir were not business managers, he said. "No wonder the outcome
\nis such a mess."<\/p>\n
Another pet project, the Ladia Galaska road project, was
\ncanceled last week amid protests from environmentalists and the
\nEuropean Union's promise to help fund the construction of an
\nairport instead.<\/p>\n
The planned road would have sped up economic development in
\nisolated areas in western and eastern Aceh, but a section of the
\nroad would have cut through Leuser National Park, a fact which
\nprompted protests from environmentalists.<\/p>\n
The park is home to a number of rare wildlife species, and the
\npresence of a road would encourage illegal logging activities
\ninside the park.<\/p>\n
Southeast Aceh regent Armen Desky said the European Union had,
\nthrough the Leuser Park Management Unit, promised Rp 21.3 billion
\nto help build an airport in his regency.<\/p>\n
He said the fund was meant to compensate the cancellation of
\nthe Ladia Galaska road project.<\/p>",
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