Extra ships sent to ease Merak congestion

Extra ships sent to ease Merak congestion

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Transportation is sending
another ship and the Navy is lending three warships to ease
massive congestion at Merak ferry port.

The promised reinforcements came as a member of the House of
Representatives demanded yesterday that Minister of
Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto resign if he failed to solve
the recurring jams at Merak within two months.

"The minister must resign if he can't solve the problem by
Idul Fitri holiday next year (February)," Sofyan Usman of House
Commission V for transportation was quoted by Antara as saying.

Usman and fellow commission members inspected yesterday
conditions at Merak, where thousands of cars and trucks have been
stranded for days waiting to be ferried to Sumatra.

"The victims are the little people," Sofyan said.

Antara reported that dozens of trucks in Merak and the nearby
industrial town of Cilegon had been abandoned by their drivers
who had run out of money. There are also reports of drivers being
forced to beg for food.

The local police, already on a shoestring budget, had given
some drivers nasi bungkus (cooked rice, meat and vegetables), the
news agency said.

The queue of trucks waiting at Merak reached three kilometers
yesterday. Some of them have been ordered to drive into Cilegon,
off the main road. Thousands of cars are stranded at the port's
parking lot.

The jam occurred after 10 of the 16 ships serving the Sunda
Strait between Merak and Bakauheni, Sumatra, were taken out of
service.

Port officials said some of the ships were too small or too
old to sail the Sunda Strait's rough waters at this time of year.
Others had been sent to the docks.

Director General of Land Transportation Santo Budiono said
here that the government was sending Utari, a ferry which can
carry up to 250 vehicles, to Merak to ease the jam.

"We will try our best to move about 4,500 stranded vehicles,
mainly trucks, both at Merak and Bakauheni in the next three or
four days after the arrival of Utari tonight (Friday night)," he
said.

Ciwandan and Cigading, two seaports near Merak, would be
prepared to service extra ships sent to ferry vehicles.

"There will be no tariff increases," he said.

Utari, a 20-year-old ferry which can sail at 15 knots, has
been serving the Jakarta-Surabaya (East Java) route. The
government must pay $10,000 a day in rent to the ship's owner PT
Jalawahana, a private company.

Santo said the ship should be able to make four round trips a
day, clearing up to 800 trucks a day.

"The Navy is also sending three vessels, free of charge. The
vessels will be able to carry up to 120 trucks a day."

Santo said bad weather was aggravating the problem.

"The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has informed us that
western winds are hitting the area. Bad weather is predicted to
last until mid-February next year."

He said wind, rather than rain, caused the delays. "A wind
speed of about 15 to 20 knots could be troublesome for ferries,"
he said.

Merak is the main ferry port on the western tip of Java for
traffic to and from Sumatra.

Santo admitted the port's facilities were inadequate.

"We will prepare, in cooperation with private firms, more
berths in the next two years."

"The government plans to buy four jet foils, expected to be
delivered before the Idul Fitri holiday."

Businesspeople depending on the Merak-Bakauheni crossing have
repeatedly complained about bad service. Many of the trucks carry
perishable commodities like food, vegetables, fruit and grain.
The delays could put some out of business.

Many drivers have complained about the cost of queuing in
Merak's chaos. (icn)

Editorial -- Page 4