A sweeping overhaul needed

A sweeping overhaul needed

It has been decided that the search for the true causes of the sinking of the ferry Gurita a few weeks ago will be done in a court of justice. At present, after hearing the testimony of 60 witnesses, police have come to the conclusion that six officials of the Aceh office of the Ministry of Transportation can be presented as defendants in the case.

There was a good deal of debate in the beginning as to the reasons for the accident which was reported to have taken the lives of 54 people while hundreds of others went missing. The government even made the tentative conclusion that the sinking of the vessel was a pure accident. Many witnesses, however, charged that the ship sank because it was carrying too many passengers.

Initially it was said that the ship's records, the annotation of which falls under the responsibility of the local office of the Ministry of Transportation, stated that the Gurita was carrying 210 passengers when it sank. A fact-finding team however obtained proof that the ship was carrying 378 -- 168 passengers more than officially stated.

If the team's finding is proven in court, obviously sanctions deserve to be taken against those involved in preparing the incorrect record. Such discrepancies in a ship's records affects not only the lives of hundreds of people, but also the state's treasury in the form of losses due to corruption.

We hope the inquiry into the Gurita ferry disaster in court also lays bare other shortcomings that are found in our entire shipping sector in general. This is possible if the case is handled thoroughly and fairly, as is expected by the public, especially in Aceh.

We also hope the handling of the case will not be limited to merely a legal settlement. More important, the government should bring order to the entire shipping sector in this country by using the court findings in this particular case.

-- Republika, Jakarta