Officials silent over train crash<\/p>\n
CIREBON, West Java (JP): As the main railway station in
\nCirebon slowly returns to normal, railway officials are keeping
\nquiet on the cause of the grisly accident that claimed 41 lives
\nand injured 62 others on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A hospital sign asks visitors not to talk to Maftuchin, the
\nwounded engineer of one of the ill-fated trains involved in the
\naccident.<\/p>\n
Railway officials were silent when asked about the cause of
\nthe accident.<\/p>\n
"We don't have the authority to do so. Just like Minister of
\nTransportation Agum Gumelar stated here, it's his office's
\nauthority," Cirebon station spokesman Hartono told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
The locomotive of the Cirebon Express train was involved in a
\nhead-on collision with the incoming Empu Jaya, a Yogyakarta-bound
\ntrain from Jakarta. The engineer of the Empu Jaya and his
\nassistant were among the fatalities.<\/p>\n
PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) spokesman Gatot Wibowo said the
\ncause of the accident was still unknown.<\/p>\n
"We have questioned all the railway officials who were on duty
\nprior to and after the accident. But there is no substantial
\nconclusion as of yet. It looks like human error," Gatot told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
In Cirebon's Pertamina hospital, a sign which reads "patients
\ncannot receive visitors" was placed in front of a room where 48-
\nyear-old Maftuchin, the engineer of Cirebon Express, was being
\ntreated.<\/p>\n
"He can hardly talk. For medical reasons, we cannot allow any
\nvisitors to see him," said hospital spokesman Dharlianti H.
\nPandelaki.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
\nAssociation (PBHI) Hendardi urged Agum and related officials to
\nresign over the accident.<\/p>\n
"They should not wait for an order to resign. They should
\nresign voluntarily out of their moral responsibility for the
\naccident," Hendardi told the Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Chairwoman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) Indah
\nSuksmaningsih said that her organization would file a class
\naction suit against the state railway company as fatal accidents
\nhad occurred frequently.<\/p>\n
At least six train accidents have occurred since January,
\nkilling at least 26 people and injuring 47 people. Last month,
\nanother Empu Jaya passenger train hit a bus at a railway crossing
\nin the Central Java town of Tegal, killing 13 people.<\/p>\n
Indah said that the class action suit would be filed on behalf
\nof the relatives of victims in the accident, claiming that PT KAI
\nhad failed to ensure the safety of its passengers.<\/p>\n
She said she saw no significant effort made to improve the
\nsafety of passengers despite the frequent accidents.<\/p>\n
"With the high frequency of accidents, the company has
\nviolated Law No. 8\/1999 on consumer protection, which stipulates
\nthat consumers have a right to security, safety and comfort in
\nconsuming any goods or services," she added.<\/p>\n
Hendardi said he supported the foundation's move to file the
\nsuit against PT KAI, as common people were always the victims of
\nthe company's negligence.<\/p>\n
"The last five incidents show that the Ministry of
\nTransportation and PT KAI have no understanding that the signals
\nare the most important part of the railway system," Indah told
\nthe Post.<\/p>\n
Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) A.M.
\nFatwa said that an apology was not enough for an accident that
\nclaimed many lives.<\/p>\n
"Concrete action, such as punishing the officials who are
\nresponsible for the accident, should follow the apology," Fatwa
\nsaid outside the legislative building on Monday.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Agum would resign over the accident, Fatwa said
\nthat there was no obligation for the minister to resign.<\/p>\n
"It depends on his moral attitude as in Indonesia resignation
\nhas not become a moral issue for political officials," said
\nFatwa, a legislator from the National Mandate Party.<\/p>\n
Indah said the Ministry of Transportation and PT KAI did not
\nhave in place a system to receive feedback or complaints from the
\npublic to improve their performance.<\/p>\n
She urged the House to demand PT KAI employ an open management
\nand operation system which would allow outsiders to audit the
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
"PT KAI should open up to the possibility of an audit by
\nacademics, individuals, journalists and NGOs which give special
\nattention to transportation," she said.<\/p>\n
Workshop<\/p>\n
The mangled Empu Jaya locomotive will be repaired at PT KAI's
\nworkshop in Yogyakarta, Gatot Wibowo said.<\/p>\n
An inspection of the railway tracks at the station revealed
\nthat the train did not apply its brakes when it collided with the
\nCirebon Express passenger train.<\/p>\n
He said that the engineer might have been too tired to notice
\nthat there were two red lights, one about 500 meters and the
\nother 200 meters before the main station.<\/p>\n
By 10 p.m. on Sunday, one of the tracks at the station had
\nbeen cleared following hours of heavy lifting to remove the train
\nwreckage.<\/p>\n
By Monday evening, northern bound trains had resumed
\noperation, albeit with a four to five-hour delay.<\/p>\n
"We are sure that by 7 p.m. trains will be back on schedule,"
\nGatot said.<\/p>\n
His statement contradicted PT KAI spokesman Zainal Abidin, who
\nsaid that it would take three to four days for the train schedule
\nto return to normal.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, most train departures were back to normal, with
\nonly some trains arriving late from various cities around Java.<\/p>\n
"We need to rearrange some of the train routes, but we expect
\nthe trains to be back to normal in three to four days," Zainal
\nAbidin told the Post.<\/p>\n
At Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta at least six
\ntrains were canceled in order to reroute the trains.<\/p>\n
Passengers who had bought tickets for those trains were
\noffered a refund or an exchange of travel dates.<\/p>\n
"Canceling these trains is not a favorite option but we must
\ndo it to rework the train routes," Zainal said.<\/p>\n
Most passengers opted for a refund as PT KAI was unable to
\ndetermine a definite schedule for most of its trains.<\/p>\n
"I got a refund on my ticket and I'll take the bus this
\nafternoon since there's no specific schedule for my route," said
\nDwi Henry, a passenger who bought a Taksaka II train ticket bound
\nfor Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
At Senen railway station, also in Central Jakarta, five trains
\nwere between two hours and five hours late as they had to be
\nrerouted through Bandung, station chief Besar Susmiarto told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
"We also had to cancel the Sawung Galing train bound for
\nKutoarjo in Central Java in order to adjust the other train
\nschedules," Besar said.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta two trains, the Argolawu and Taksaka II had to
\nbe canceled on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Railway officials said they had refunded 125 percent of the
\npassengers' train fare for the cancellation.(o2\/o6\/23\/25\/ste\/hbk)<\/p>",
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