Government appoints ITC to audit KAI

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has appointed Indonesia Transportation Club (ITC) as an independent party to audit the operations and safety standards applied by state train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), ITC director Dadan Irawan Sarpingi said on Tuesday.

"Based on a ministerial decree issued by the Office of the State Ministry of State Enterprises on Feb. 6, ITC is appointed as an independent auditor for KAI's operational and safety matters," Dadan was quoted by Antara as saying.

The move followed a fatal train collision in December last year that killed around 50 people. The accident prompted KAI's top officials to resign.

Dadan said that the audit process would involve a team of transportation experts and academics from Jakarta and Bandung, West Java.

He added that data-gathering was expected to be completed within two months.

Elsewhere, Antara said that the government was expected to appoint KAI's new board of directors on Wednesday.

The government completed a fit-and-proper test on 24 candidates last month.

There has been speculation that former KAI business development director would be appointed as the new president of the company.