Navy warships keep Sabang's economy alive
Navy warships keep Sabang's economy alive
JAKARTA (JP): Two Navy warships have replaced the sunken ferry Gurita in serving the route to and from Sabang to help keep the Weh Island's economy rolling.
"We are mobilizing KRI Seulako and KRI Kral to ply the route between Banda Aceh and Sabang, pending the arrival of another ferry which is now on its way here," the commander of the Sabang Naval Base, Lt. Col. Fikri Samaf Guciano, told The Jakarta Post by phone from Sabang, the main town on Weh Island, yesterday.
Gurita, the only ferry that served the route, sank on Friday with 210 people on board and dozens of vehicles and tons of cargo. Only 40 people survived; 53 bodies have been found and 117 others are still missing.
Fikri said the government was dispatching Cucut, a ferry that has been operating in the Sibolga area off the western coast of North Sumatra, to Banda Aceh to replace the Gurita in serving the Weh islanders.
Cucut, which has a capacity of 400 passengers, is expected to arrive today, he said. "We will terminate the services of the two warships then," he said.
Fikri said each of the two warships could only carry 40 passengers. "We are only taking passengers. We are not taking cargo to ensure unexpected things don't happen," he said.
The warships charge Rp 3,000 from each passenger, the same fare charged by Gurita.
Fikri said that the search and rescue team yesterday found one more victim of the sunk ferry near Benggala Island, about 25 miles from the shipwreck site.
He said that the victim's body was found by the navy warship KRI Siliman.
However, the team found it difficult to identify the victim because the whole body had decomposed, he said.
The search for possible survivors is being carried out by three big warships, the KRI Siliman, KRI Rencong, and KRI Yohannes. "The search range has been extended, which small ships cannot cover," he said.
The standard procedure in any search and rescue operation is that a search operation should be conducted for seven days. The Navy however has said that it is prepared to extend the operation for more than a week to search for more bodies.
Officials believe that dozens of people were trapped in the ship or in their cars when the Gurita sank.
The government has launched a full investigation into the accident. Preliminary enquiries suggested that the ship sank after it ran into rough seas.
Compensation
Meanwhile the head of the Banda Aceh office of the state-owned life insurance company PT Jasa Raharja, Nana Suyatna, said on Monday evening that the company would compensate all victims registered on the ship's passengers list.
"We are ready to compensate the relatives of the dead and injured victims, as well those still reported missing," Nana told the Antara news agency as saying.
"We have completed temporary data collection on 96 victims, by directly visiting houses of the victims," he said.
According to law, the families of the dead and permanently disabled victims are entitled to Rp 6 million (US$2,600) compensation, while an injured victim is entitled to Rp 2.5 million. Owners of four-wheel vehicles, including jeeps, will get Rp 8.5 million, while two-wheel vehicle owners will receive Rp 2.5 million.
The Japanese-built ship sank off Aceh on Friday, during a voyage to Balohan harbor in Sabang, Weh Island, from Kruengraya in Aceh Besar. (imn)