KAI tightens security to prevent vandalism
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java
State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) said on Friday it was tightening its security system across Java to prevent rampant vandalism on trains traveling between East Java and Jakarta.
"We have deployed some 1,556 of our personnel to guard several locations prone to vandalism, as we do not want such actions to disturb our transportation system," Suhartono, spokesman for PT KAI in the West Java city of Cirebon told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
According to Suhartono, some 1,366 of the total 1,566 security guards are employees of PT KAI, while the remaining 200 were recruited from other agencies.
These personnel will be deployed at 34 railway stations at certain locations across West Java, he added.
Suhartono said locations prone to vandalism were the railroads from Cikampek station in Karawang regency to the Haurgeulis and Kertasemaya stations in Indramayu regency.
According to PT KAI, acts of vandalism took place during the fasting month of Ramadhan, injuring a number of train passengers.
The latest incident took place on Dec. 10, in which Sariah, a 55-year old resident of Babakan village in Cirebon was seriously wounded, when unidentified people hurled stones at a train in Indramayu. The Tegalarum train was traveling from Jakarta to Tegal, Central Java.
She sustained serious injuries to her face and hands and is receiving medical treatment at Cirebon Gunung Jati General hospital.
A similar incident occurred last month when a Senja Utama Solo train and a Tasaka executive class train were traveling through Indramayu from Yogyakarta.
"The vandals destroyed route signals which may have caused a collision. It was lucky that we were able to deal with it," Suhartono said.
"Efforts to tighten security are also aimed at anticipating the peak of the influx of people returning from their hometowns in Java to Jakarta after celebrating Idul Fitri," he said.
The country's busiest period for post-Idul Fitri travel is expected to reach its peak on Saturday and Sunday.
Suhartono, nevertheless, brushed aside speculation that the vandals had intended to ruin PT KAI's performance, but underlined that "the police should carry out a thorough investigation to determine if there were certain motives behind the actions".
Separately, Iskandar Abubakar, director general of land transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, asserted that the government needed to raise the state budget for railway transportation by up to 300 percent from the current Rp 60 billion.
According to Abubakar, the larger budget would be allocated to develop railroad infrastructure in a attempt to curb the number of train accidents.
"In many collisions, including the recent accident of the Dwipangga express that killed six people while traveling from Surakarta to Jakarta, it is not merely the fault of the train engineer himself, but also due to the poor infrastructure," Abubakar said.
Abubakar further cited certain modern countries that allocate a huge budget to develop the road and railway facilities.
Fatal train accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, where officials frequently blame signal failures.