Extra ships sent to ease Merak congestion<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Transportation is sending
\nanother ship and the Navy is lending three warships to ease
\nmassive congestion at Merak ferry port.<\/p>\n
The promised reinforcements came as a member of the House of
\nRepresentatives demanded yesterday that Minister of
\nTransportation Haryanto Dhanutirto resign if he failed to solve
\nthe recurring jams at Merak within two months.<\/p>\n
\"The minister must resign if he can't solve the problem by
\nIdul Fitri holiday next year (February),\" Sofyan Usman of House
\nCommission V for transportation was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Usman and fellow commission members inspected yesterday
\nconditions at Merak, where thousands of cars and trucks have been
\nstranded for days waiting to be ferried to Sumatra.<\/p>\n
\"The victims are the little people,\" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that dozens of trucks in Merak and the nearby
\nindustrial town of Cilegon had been abandoned by their drivers
\nwho had run out of money. There are also reports of drivers being
\nforced to beg for food.<\/p>\n
The local police, already on a shoestring budget, had given
\nsome drivers nasi bungkus (cooked rice, meat and vegetables), the
\nnews agency said.<\/p>\n
The queue of trucks waiting at Merak reached three kilometers
\nyesterday. Some of them have been ordered to drive into Cilegon,
\noff the main road. Thousands of cars are stranded at the port's
\nparking lot.<\/p>\n
The jam occurred after 10 of the 16 ships serving the Sunda
\nStrait between Merak and Bakauheni, Sumatra, were taken out of
\nservice.<\/p>\n
Port officials said some of the ships were too small or too
\nold to sail the Sunda Strait's rough waters at this time of year.
\nOthers had been sent to the docks.<\/p>\n
Director General of Land Transportation Santo Budiono said
\nhere that the government was sending Utari, a ferry which can
\ncarry up to 250 vehicles, to Merak to ease the jam.<\/p>\n
\"We will try our best to move about 4,500 stranded vehicles,
\nmainly trucks, both at Merak and Bakauheni in the next three or
\nfour days after the arrival of Utari tonight (Friday night),\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Ciwandan and Cigading, two seaports near Merak, would be
\nprepared to service extra ships sent to ferry vehicles.<\/p>\n
\"There will be no tariff increases,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Utari, a 20-year-old ferry which can sail at 15 knots, has
\nbeen serving the Jakarta-Surabaya (East Java) route. The
\ngovernment must pay $10,000 a day in rent to the ship's owner PT
\nJalawahana, a private company.<\/p>\n
Santo said the ship should be able to make four round trips a
\nday, clearing up to 800 trucks a day.<\/p>\n
\"The Navy is also sending three vessels, free of charge. The
\nvessels will be able to carry up to 120 trucks a day.\"<\/p>\n
Santo said bad weather was aggravating the problem.<\/p>\n
\"The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has informed us that
\nwestern winds are hitting the area. Bad weather is predicted to
\nlast until mid-February next year.\"<\/p>\n
He said wind, rather than rain, caused the delays. \"A wind
\nspeed of about 15 to 20 knots could be troublesome for ferries,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Merak is the main ferry port on the western tip of Java for
\ntraffic to and from Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Santo admitted the port's facilities were inadequate.<\/p>\n
\"We will prepare, in cooperation with private firms, more
\nberths in the next two years.\"<\/p>\n
\"The government plans to buy four jet foils, expected to be
\ndelivered before the Idul Fitri holiday.\"<\/p>\n
Businesspeople depending on the Merak-Bakauheni crossing have
\nrepeatedly complained about bad service. Many of the trucks carry
\nperishable commodities like food, vegetables, fruit and grain.
\nThe delays could put some out of business.<\/p>\n
Many drivers have complained about the cost of queuing in
\nMerak's chaos. (icn)<\/p>\n
Editorial -- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/extra-ships-sent-to-ease-merak-congestion-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }