KAI' new management pledges company audit
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Omar Berto, president of state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI), has pledged an audit of the company's assets, including its routes in Java and Sumatra, in the next three months to improve operational safety.
Omar who, along with other members of KAI's new board of directors was sworn in Feb. 13, told reporters here on Wednesday that the audit and evaluation were badly needed to improve the company's operation and service to the public.
"The audit's results will be announced to the public, and we will not hesitate to make unpopular decisions should the audit conclude that certain routes or trains can no longer be effectively maintained," he said.
According to Berto, KAI will also appoint inspectors whose main tasks will be to supervise the operation of all trains and train routes.
"The inspectors' main tasks will be to assess whether a train is in sufficiently good condition, and whether routes which are not profitable should continue to function," he said.
The new management has also reached an agreement to allocate special funds to improve overall safety. Berto declined to specify the money allocated for safety, saying that it has yet to be discussed with the minister for empowerment of state-owned enterprises.
KAI, he added, will also revise all railway regulations instituted during the Dutch colonial era, as many employees have yet to understand them.
So "regulations can be enforced," and employees violating them can be punished, he said. The present system of punishments and rewards, he noted, has yet to gain attention in the running of the railway company.
According to current rules, responsibility for the railway operations not only lies in the hands of PT KAI, but also with the administrations of the regions in which the trains travel.
Omar said that the review will be comprehensive, encompassing "all important sections in its all networks -- including the closure of illegal thoroughfares -- to reduce future railway accidents."
According to the company, there are about 8,500 railway crossings in Java and Sumatra, but only 1,300 are guarded, owing to financial problems.
Berto said that KAI would reduce its number of economy-class trains that have caused financial losses the railway company.
"We must strike a balance between economy-class trains and commercial ones," he said.
Gatot Wibowo, a spokesman for KAI, said that KAI officials have had difficulties in making reforms and regeneration because of financial shortfalls.
"The prolonged financial shortages have a lot to do with the number of economy-class trains," he said.
"Presently, for every 89 economy-class trains there are 11 commercial trains -- meanwhile, the government has provided very few subsidies to KAI," he said. The ideal ratio between economic- class trains and commercial ones, he added, would be 70-to-30.
KAI would not earn a profit if the ratio were 60-40, he added.
According to Gatot, KAI would evaluate the operation of economy-class, commuter and cargo trains in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Jakarta, as well as the outlying areas, that have caused material losses to the company.
The government, meantime, has yet to pay this year's subsidy, which totals Rp 161 billion, to KAI; this has caused the company to fall into debt with the state-owned electricity company, PT PLN, for several months.
He added that KIA has suffered Rp 32 billion annually in material losses in North Sumatra; Rp 29 billion annually in West Sumatra, and Rp 90 billion annually in Jakarta because of the high number of economy class and cargo trains in the three provinces.
Making matters worse have been the frequent railway accidents that have occurred over the last three years. The accidents have hundreds left killed and injured, and led to huge financial losses for KAI.