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)