Crash victims sue train company
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Relatives of those killed in the horror train crash in Brebes, Central Java, last year and the survivors are suing state-owned railway company PT KAI and the government for Rp 2.7 billion in a class-action lawsuit.
The Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of the State- Owned Enterprise Empowerment and the Ministry of Finance appeared as the accused at the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday.
As many as 31 people were killed and scores more injured when the two economy trains Empu Jaya and Gaya Baru Malam collided last December.
The victims are represented by lawyers from the Consumer Advocacy Team for Train Accident Victims.
According to the lawsuit, PT KAI failed to give proper service to the passengers as stated under the Consumer Protection Law.
PT KAI's board of directors resigned several days after the accident.
Train experts said the accident was due to poor maintenance of the trains. But PT KAI and the government insist it was due to human error.
Indonesia has witnessed many train accidents. Last year, there were at least 13 accidents claiming about 170 lives. Most of the accidents involved economy trains. In most cases, it was the engineers who were sent to court.
On Thursday, lawyers Agus Yustianingsih, Eko Suyanto, Cholil Rahman, Hartoyo and Mulyadi demanded the accused pay each victim compensation of a maximum Rp 500 million each for immaterial losses and between Rp 2 million and Rp 119 million for material losses.
The victims have been listed in five categories -- Deceased, permanently disabled, seriously injured, lightly injured and those who suffered very light injuries and lost some belongings -- should get paid different amounts of compensation, the lawyers argued.
Presiding Judge I Nengah Suriada adjourned the hearing until June 20 to hear the arguments from the accused.
Setyo Lestari, who represented the Ministry of Transportation, urged the plaintiffs to settle the case out the court.
"It was an accident, nobody wanted it. We are the government which must serve people," she said.