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