A matter of responsibility

A matter of responsibility

Believe it or not, the police investigation into the sinking
of the ferry Gurita off the Aceh coast two weeks ago has brought
to light, among other things, the fact that the day before it set
off from Malahayati on the Aceh mainland to Sabang, the vessel
was leaking. And the leak was patched up with plain cement which
was not even completely dry when the vessel began its short but
ill-fated journey.

The chief of the Aceh police, Col. A. Hamid Busra, told local
reporters the information was obtained from statements of
eyewitnesses as well as from photographs taken when workers were
"repairing" the leak in the hull of the 25-year-old vessel. The
photographs, together with the witnesses' statements will
eventually serve as evidence of criminal negligence on the part
of the ship's operators.

Unbelievable as it may be, this is merely the latest in a
series of irregularities that have come to light after the
accident, causing outrage among the victims' survivors and
questions from the public about the state of affairs that
prevails in our inter-island liner and ferry services, and of the
ships' seaworthiness.

Shortly after the disaster Minister of Transportation Haryanto
Dhanutirto told the public the ship had just left dock and
therefore there should have been no doubts about its
seaworthiness. This new police information, however, naturally
puts into doubt not only the trustworthiness of the official
assurances, but the very workings of our liner and ferry services
-- surely an extremely serious issue in a country which is the
largest archipelago in the world.

Another major complaint concerns the apparent overloading of
the ship with passengers and cargo. In the official report
submitted by the local office of the transportation ministry in
Banda Aceh to the Minister of Transportation in Jakarta, the
ferry was carrying 210 passengers. This figure was based on the
list of passengers on the ship's official manifest. Survivors of
the accident, however, stated there were at least 320 and perhaps
as many as 400 passengers on board the Gurita at the time when
the ferry sailed.

This, again, sheds more doubtful light on the official
statements. Although officials dismiss the possibility of serious
overloading of the Gurita as a cause of the disaster, the truth
is that overloading of ferries and other inter-island vessels
with both passengers and cargo is a fact of life in this country.

The Gurita disaster naturally brings back memories of the
similarly catastrophic Tampomas II disaster which occurred off
the Masalembu Islands, off Ujung Pandang several years ago. It
was not the first serious sea disaster in our modern maritime
history and it probably won't be the last -- unless steps are
taken immediately to improve the situation.

It is sad but true that we, Indonesians, are better known for
our nonchalance when it comes to acting to prevent accidents that
could, though may not, cause loss of human life. We think the
time has come for us to develop a greater sense of civic
responsibility. In the case of the Gurita ferry accident, a good
first step would be to set up a commission to investigate the
matter thoroughly and independently. Even if another scandal may
be in the making, such efforts will be worth it because it is the
progress of the nation and the well-being of our people that is
at stake.